All That Remains
by S.B. Chase
Summary: What if Snow didn't change the Quarter Quell? The Capitol was able to control the Districts, and the Games have continued throughout. Now a new President Lotus is trying to finally extinguish the sparks left by the 74th Games as the 4th Quarter Quell rolls in. With a brand new, young head gamemaker, there's a lot in store and nothing is off limits for the 100th annual Hunger Games.
1. Prolouge - The 100th Hunger Games

"Sir," A voice came from behind me as I stood by the window, staring out into the giant rose garden left behind by the previous President of Panem.

"Yes?" I asked before turning to see one of my closer associates hovering cautiously in the doorway. "Ah, Mylute, come in, come in," I welcomed, using broad hand gestures. Mylute Picker, the new head gamemaker I had picked out for this year of the Hunger Games. It was a special occasion for this year, and I had wanted the head gamemaker of the previous years to pick who would be best for a fresh idea. I had trust in the choice, but so far, he had been particularly timid. Not a good quality for a head gamemaker. "What's on your mind?" I asked, turning to him and leaning against the window.

"Well, Romec said it was about time I conference you in about the games," He said, coming into the room and standing behind one of the chairs, seemingly to nervous to sit down in it himself. It was good that the head gamemaker would help mentor his successor. But we all knew it was for this one game, and Romec Chassity would resume his place for the next one. Maybe he was sucking up to me by helping out.

"Well, he was right," I responded to him. "What do you have in mind?"

"Something big. Something moving to every person that still breaths," He responded, tapping his fingers along the back of the chair he stood behind.

"I thought that was applied to any Quarter Quell, Mylute." My reply was quick and blunt, and I could see how easily my eyes burned into his sleeves. "Especially the 4th Quarter Quell. Especially a game where you were brought in specifically for."

"Of course President Lotus, but as you said, that would be applied. I am meaning to specify how much." He was gaining confidence - rather miraculously in my opinion. "Not to intrude on your handling of the Districts, but I personally believe that an outstanding game will be required."

"I'm curious Mylute. How come?"

"Well, I am correct to assume that we are still dealing with aftershocks from that girl," Was his response.

Silence gripped the room. The roles had almost switched. I was the one that was nervous, he was the one with the boring gaze like spears. I was the President. I had to regain control from this rookie of a gamemaker. "You mean Ms. Everdeen from the 74th?" I asked, standing up straight. He nodded slowly, his eyes locked on me. "Yes."

"Now lets recall what she did to Panem, exactly," He prodded.

"Well, she and her District companion moved the Capitol citizens with their star-crossed lovers bit. The current head gamemaker decided to let both Ms. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark 'win', and she got the Districts going. President Snow got them to calm down by ignoring the couple since, giving the Capitol a new powerful victor to shine in the light at the 3rd Quarter Quell from District 1 and having the 'Career' tributes win ever since. They've tried to gain control, but after years of slaughter from the Peacemakers, they've given up, but it still remains an upset."

"Exactly. We should take this game, and we should brand it into every single person's head to the point of smoking out any ideas of rebellion. Something that will break any soul, even that of our double winners," He suggested, an evil grin mirroring from my face to his.

"Well, what do you have in mind?" I asked. "We still have to remember we got that dusty old box of Quarter Quells waiting for us, and even I haven't read those."

"I learned something new things about those old envelopes a couple days ago," He started, stepping around the chair he had stayed hidden behind and coming to lean on the one in front of me. "First, is that they were written by the President and his close associates." He slipped his hand into his black jacket, pulling out a crisp, newly white envelope and waving it around in the air. "And second, is the fact that in all technicalities, not a single one of those was labeled with a number. They're labeled once they've been confirmed as the whatever Quarter Quell." He flipped the envelope in his hand around, showing the front was showing a sloppy-printed '100th' it. He then tossed it onto the end table between his chair and the couch.

I took it off without hesitation, opening the unsealed envelope and pulling out the paper, reading it's contents. "We can't have it there."

"Oh, I know," He said, suddenly growing innocent again and slipping himself away from the chair he had been leaning on. "That's why I brought it to you. I would've just put it in the box if I hadn't known that. I don't know why, and neither does Romec, but he said he had brought it up before and gotten rejected for the location. But that's the beauty of it - we don't tell them where it really is. We'll find an even worse-looking replica, fill it with mutts, and tell them that's all that remains."

I considered it for a moment before folding up the paper and putting it back in the envelope before handing it back to Mylute. "Very good. Seeing as you know where that box is, you can put that in yourself," I added. He simply nodded, turning to leave. "And also," I called after him, getting him to hold in the doorway. "Come back this evening, you can help me with finding this replica and designing these mutts. We'll need to get it done before the announcement of the Quarter Quell." He smiled, nodded once more, than disappeared through the doorway.

That was why Romec picked him. Whether or not he was truly timid, I don't know, though he definitely wasn't very sociable. But he was also being bold now. Clever and cunning. And if he's not timid, a good actor. The perfect makings for the head gamemaker. The Hunger Games were now 100 years in the making, and after that century, these Games would return the Districts to the fear they had the first year of the games.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Card Reading

**POV - District 7 Cidet Shyn**

"Hey, it's about to start!" I called from where I sat on the couch. Today was the announcement of the Quarter Quell. I had to admit, I was curious. Now of course, I hated the Hunger Games - every person breathing that didn't live or work for the Capitol, or lives in one of the Career Districts hates the Games. The word was that this Quarter Quell was going to be bigger than any of the games, or even the other Quarter Quells before. It seemed fitting for the 100th Anniversary of the "Slaughter Games". My mother and Aunt Piat came in with their dinner plates, sitting down on the chairs gathered around the TV. Then Aleas, my cousin, plopped down next to me on the couch. "Try not to fling your food everywhere," I mumbled.

"Sorry," She responded, straightening herself and moving a couple inches away from me on the couch. "Oh here, I brought your plate for you." She handed me a plate of food literally thrown together. I didn't know whether she put it together herself, or it had ended up that way upon her landing. But we were just lucky to have food on our plates. Before Aunt Piat and Aleas had moved in, my mother and I weren't doing very well. We had gone from practically eating dandelions and tree bark to what we had now - greens, some sort of jerky, and bread. But you wouldn't catch me telling Aleas that.

"It's starting," My mother said, drawing my attention back to the TV. Sure enough, the Anthem starts to play and President Lotus steps out to take the stage. He's the youngest President Panem has ever had. He's also proudly considered the handsomest too, but even the girls of the Districts probably can't deny it as just flattery of the Capitol citizens. He starts off with the boring, over-used, rambling speech made every year about the Dark Days of the Rebellion. But I had never heard such spirit and life flowing from his voice. They were driving it home this year. Now the recollection of what they've already done.

"On the twenty-fifth anniversary, to remind the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice for violence, every district held an election and voted to choose the tributes who would represent it in the Games." It was one of the harshest for the first Quarter Quell. Forced to turn on each other. "On the fiftieth anniversary, to remind that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district had to send twice as many tributes," Lotus continued. More tributes meant a better chance to be reaped and worse chance to live. "On the seventy-fifth anniversary, to remind the rebels that the Rebellion affected young and old, even those who didn't fight, the age limits were extended from between 12 and 18 to between 5 and 100." That was an awful year. There's practically no one who has survived to 100 in Panem - except if you lived in the Capitol. There even was a 5 year old girl that was chosen, and her father volunteered afterwards - and of course, they were the last two. So the father killed himself. It was terrible. And her mother was already dead, so she went home to know one. But it proved to the Districts how far the Capitol was willing to go.

"And now," President Lotus paused, a hunger burning in his eyes as he looked up at the camera - the Districts - that seemed to affect everyone, as I and everyone in the room shifted. Aleas even scooted closer to me, though I matched her advance with mine own away from her. "For the one hundredth anniversary of the Hunger Games, the fourth Quarter Quell," He was playing with us now. I bet he could just feel out blood going cold and draining from our faces. A young girl, dressed in pure white, came out holding a box. She opened the box, revealing rows and rows of old yellow envelopes. Lotus reached in, pulling out a suspiciously white envelope with a sloppy "100" written on the front. He opened, pulling out a small piece of paper. He gave another devilish glance to the camera before proceeding. "To remind the rebels what happened to those who did not receive our mercy, the Hunger Games' arena will be what remains of District 13."

I shared a glance with my mother, and saw the fear glowing in her eyes. I turned to Aunt Piat to see the same, and then Aleas' dark blue eyes staring up at me with fear. They used to have Capitol reporters go to District 13, and they had always shown a smoking Justice Building. After the 75th game, they stopped having those reports. They said it had gotten worse, to the point that it was too dangerous to send anyone there anymore. My humble home of District 7 specialized in lumber. That wouldn't be that dangerous. But District 13 had specialized in nuclear...stuff. After 100 years, the radioactivity had worn away enough to send 24 children there. Either that, or that was the true terrible factor in this Quarter Quell. First you had to vote your neighbors. Second you had to make the odds worse. Third you had to send the too younger and the too old as well. Fourth...you have to add the new factor of radioactivity.

"You won't be reaped," Aunt Piat said, reaching over and playing with Aleas' curly blond hair gently to calm her down.

"Cidet," My mother chirped, and I turned to see her reaching out her hand. I took her hand, and we both knew it was more for her than it was for me. Aunt Piat followed her move and took Aleas by the hand, and then Aleas turned to me. I reluctantly took her hand too. How did I end up in a house full of girls, all relying on me for comfort.

"We'll be fine. Out of all the children in District 7, neither of us are going to get pulled...ok?"


	3. Chapter 2 - District 1 Reaping

**POV District 1 Ludacris Zeffe**

"The almighty day of the reaping has arrived!" I proclaimed, strutting out into the living room in my baggy pants.

"And you are already dressed, aren't you?" my mother commented, eyeing my get up.

I shrugged. "It's not for another two hours. I'm not like Peridot, I don't take that long to get all fancy." As soon as I said that, I could hear two sets of feet headed my way. I turned to see my older twin brothers, Strategy and Peridot, hovering behind me. Strategy had blue eyes like our mother, but Peridot had bright yellow eyes like me - which mother said was from our father - which made him much more intimidating. But he wasn't disproving me, as his blond hair was all fluffed up and he had been awake much longer than I had.

"Is that so?" Strategy asked. Ever since I was little, I was teamed up on by my older brothers. I had gotten used to it by now, but it doesn't mean it didn't frustrated me.

"Well, I would blow on his hair and see how hard he beat me, but then we wouldn't make it to the Reaping." Peridot and Stradegy shared a glance, though Strategy's eyes were focused on Peridot's hair. He wanted so badly to agree with me, but there was no way he was going to go against his partner in crime. It left the two of them silent.

Our mother came up behind, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Give them a break for one day Ludacris, ok? This is their last chance to get in the Hunger Games."

"So many pros and cons to it," Peridot said. "We can't both win games like we said we would, but if we get reaped, we'll be winning a Quarter Quell!"

"Are you guys going to volunteer?" I asked.

They paused for a second. "Depends on who actually gets reaped. I mean, I don't know where you stand, Peridot, but if either you or Ludacris gets reaped, I'm volunteering," He replied with a smile.

"There is no way in hell you're stealing my spot!" He declared, and in response Strategy put him in a headlock. Peridot struggled to get out, and I leaped in trying to pull him out when my mother nudged me forward.

"Who do you think will win, eh?" Strategy asked mockingly.

"Boys, boys!" My mother said, stepping in. She was one of the nicest people we had met, but there was no way we were willing to let her step in on this fight. "Good. Now Ludacris, go get ready and put on some nice clothes. Strategy you can finish your lunch and Peridot - finish up," She finished with a smile. Strategy gave him a playful shove before heading to the kitchen, and I followed with a cheesy smile as I passed him. He gave all of us a glare, but I could see a smile growing on his face.

**-X-X-X-**

"Next." I stepped forward, giving my hand to the heavily uniformed official. As he stabbed my finger, I glanced over at the other lines. We had made a tradition of seeing who could get through the line fastest. I had gotten to the shortest line first, and Peridot had gone to the same one as me only two people behind. And in the line beside us, Strategy was three people behind Peridot's place in his line. I made a face at them before heading off to wear the sixteen year old guys. I soon started wishing they gave us chairs, my feet were getting sore while we were waiting for everyone to get there. It brought a smile to my face to think that it was Strategy's fault.

Remembering them, I turned to try and find them. Sure enough, I saw the two of them way at the back with the other eighteen-year-old-guys. Peridot spotted me and pointed me out to Strategy. I stuck my tongue out at them, and Strategy just rolled his eyes while Peridot glared at me. "Should you be over there?" I mouthed to them, motioning to the other side of the square where all the girls were. Now they were both glaring at me. I was thinking of my next move, when the Anthem started to ring out and bounce off the walls of the buildings.

I turned around just in time to see Himons Lockpick, District 1's escort, in his broad outfit walk out. I didn't pay attention to his classic welcome, I was too busy looking at his outfit. He has bright, fluffy orange hair and a deep magenta suit with a plaid orange and magenta tie. His eyes were outlined in black and magenta, and his chipmunk cheeks were blushed over orange. Ridiculous. Especially considering District 1, who specialized in luxury items, had made all that for him. I snapped back into attention when President Lotus' voice boomed from the video recapping the Dark days.

"Now, what we've all come for. The names of the tributes that will be representing District 1 in the 100th annual Hunger Games!" Himons picked up after the video had cut out. "And as tradition, the girls will go first." Excitement could be felt in the air as the brightly colored, short man walked over to the big bowl of names. Every year, the Capitol offered a Tesserae for those who were willing for more slips with their names for food. Many families in our District would enter for Tesserae - not for food, most of the time we wouldn't even eat the disgusting rations - but just for the names, which would add up by the time you were eighteen, so the bowls were filled past the half point, while the lower districts usually had bowls filled to a quarter. He reached his hand in, fishing around the contents until he pulled out one he liked. He paraded it back to the microphone, and I was waiting for him to start dancing with it before he finally opened it up.

"Silver Velvet." A short blond girl among the group of seventeen-year-old girls make her way from the far edge over to the center. She had a broad smile on her face. When she got up to the stage next to Himons, she was smiling broadly towards someone behind me. I turned to see a spiky, black-haired guy with the other seventeen-year-olds waving at her. I turned back around as he said, "And now the boys' turn." Himons made his way to the bowl full of boy names, while Silver stood in place, looking from Himons to the crowd of boys. When Himons rejoined her to open the slip of paper, she leaned to the side, trying to read the name that would be printed neatly on the paper.

"Ludacris Zeffe." My breath caught in my chest. I was waiting for Strategy or Peridot to take my place. I walked over to the side and was escorted up to the stage, excitement building in me as I didn't hear anything. I climbed up beside Himons, and sought out my brothers' faces. They had complete shock mirrored on their faces. Himons had me and Silver shake hands, and she beamed a sweet smile, though I only had a smirk on my face. I turned back to my brothers, still in shock, as they all started to clap. I took a bow up on the stage, and Silver started waving her hand to the boy that had been behind me.

"Come on," Himons whispered to us, as we had over stayed our welcome on the stage. He hurried us along into the Justice Building, and I took one look behind me and gave a final wave to everyone right before the big doors shut behind us.

**-X-X-X-**

We were led side by side until we got to a pair of rooms where we were separated. We would meet our families here before we would be shipped off to the Capitol. The room was filled with velvet furniture and silk curtains. I ended up laying down on one of the couches while I waited. I had almost fallen asleep when the door finally opened. I looked up to see Peridot and Strategy burst in, with our mother following behind. He instantly jumped on me. Peridot was sitting on my legs and Strategy had weaseled his way under me, putting me in a headlock.

"Hi guys," I said while being strangled by my older brothers. "Great to see you. Now, it would be even better if you would try not to break all my bones right before I go into the Hunger Games." Strategy let go of me, and Peridot got up and moved my legs, forcing me to sit up. "I thought you guys were going to volunteer to take my place if I got reaped - which I did, if you doorknobs didn't realize that."

"Well, did you really want us to?" Strategy asked, ruffling my hair. I shrugged in response. He had a point.

"Well, the things I want have never really changed your plans before." I could tell he knew I had a point just the same.

"I think we were in too much shock to even blink," Peridot added. "Oh, and by the way, I never was going to take your place, I was only going to steal his."

"Well, that's very nice, thank you," Strategy replied sarcastically.

"Calm down," Our mother stepped in. "First of all, Peridot _didn't_ take your spot. Second, who wouldn't take the spot when it comes to a Quarter Quell? I mean, honestly."

We all smiled. We stayed silent for a few moments before I put my arms around my brothers' shoulders. "I am going to miss you guys while I'm gone. All of you," I added, motioning to our mother.

She smiled. "Don't worry, it won't be that long."

"Times up," The deep voice of a peacekeeper came as he poked his head in.

"Alright," Strategy said as they got up. "See you later Ludacris," He said, messing up my hair before he left.

Peridot waved a simple goodbye before following my brother, and my mother came a kissed my forehead. "I'll see you in a few weeks...ok?"

I smiled. "I'll see you then."

**POV District 1 Silver Velvet**

I was sitting in the windowsill, trying to brush away the silk curtains that would keep draping back over my shoulders, when a voice came, "You know it might be easier if you just don't sit in the windowsill, you know?" I whipped around to see my boyfriend, Cotton, standing in the doorway.

"Hey," I greeted, getting up and hugging him. "Can you believe it? I got reaped - I'm going into the Hunger Games!"

"You better win then," He said, though I could see in his smile that he didn't doubt my ability to.

"Mr. Opaque," I looked up as my step-father came in, carrying my two nine-year-old half-sisters in each arm.

"Hello sir," Cotton returned, stepping away from me. I gave a smiling glare at my father. My mother followed in, my seven-year-old half-brother at her heels.

"Hey guys," I said, kneeling down. My step-father set the two girls down, and all three of them came rushing over to me.

"Are you going to win?" One of the two twins, Linen, asked me once they had stopped tugging on my shoulders.

"Well of course," I replied, ruffling her hair.

"Are you nervous at all?" The other girl, Sequin, followed up.

"Not one bit," I replied, pulling her sequined hat down over her face. "Because I have the perfect motivation. I am going to win because I know I'll have you guys at home cheering me on." I then turned to my half-brother, Topaz. "And guess what Topaz? I'm going to win just for you." He smiled, and then Topaz turned to Cotton. Cotton reached in his pocket, pulling out a chain, and handing it to Topaz. "What's this?"

"This is going to be your token." On the chain were seven clear, hollow, plastic beads. The first had cotton in it - for Cotton. The second had a cream-colored piece of linen - for Linen. The third was filled with tiny sequins - for Sequin. The fourth was painted a deep blue - for Topaz. The fifth was painted gold - for my mother. The sixth was painted red - for my father, Red Velvet. And the seven had silk in it - for my step-father.

"Thank you. And when I get back, it'll have to tokens of every tribute I kill on it."

"Won't that be nice," He said with a smile.

"Time to go," A voice came, and we all turned to see a peacekeeper waiting in the door.

"We'll see you," My mother said, and my half-siblings all said a goodbye before following her out.

"You'll be great," My step-father said before filing out, leaving me and Cotton.

I gave him another hug, staying silent for a moment. "I almost wish you could come with me - it would be fun to go to the Capitol with you."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be fun to come back without you, now would it?" He asked, pulling away and turning to head for the door, wear the peacekeeper was tapping his foot.

"Hey!" He gave me a wink before following out.

"Come with me," The peacekeeper said after they had left. I followed him out, and met my District partner, Ludacris, waiting for me so we could leave for the train.

I nodded to him and gave him a smirk. "You ready?" I didn't wait for him to answer, I just headed off after the peacekeepers.


	4. Chapter 3 - District 2 Reaping

**POV District 2 Arale Ulstrad**

"Ok everybody up, let's go let's go!"

I had to admit, I had been very eager this morning...but I didn't need my older brother Luipos mocking me for the rest of my life because of it. "Come on," our older sister Fiter said. "Give her a break, this is her first reaping! On me and Tyles' first reaping, we were so excited that father couldn't get us to stop screaming." I looked over my shoulder to see our father roll his eyes. "And as I recall, about five years ago, there was a certain boy that was running around, rushing everyone out of bed, all excited for his first reaping day."

"OH, was it you Tyles, cause I don't remember that at all," Luipos retorted.

"Ok, my hair is not that short," Tyles defended.

"And anyways, from where I remember, your hair was longer than hers back then," I spoke up.

My three older siblings started to get in an argument. "Hey," our father barked, getting us all to quiet down. "Let's face it, every single one of us has been excited on our first reaping. Even you aunt twenty-five years ago. And your grandfather. And guess what? Now three people have died because of that reaping and now this is hell."

Our mother's older sister and our father's father were both reaped in the seventy-fifth Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell. They lost. My father was fine, but my mother wasn't. And after fifteen years, her heart gave out from the pain. And now we're all kind of wondering how long it will be until our father's will too. Fiter and Tyles were only ten when she died. Luipos was seven, and I was two. Our father takes care of us, but they've had to be our support since. It's not like it matters. Our father still trains us. That's all that matters. Maybe if either Luipos or I gets reaped, and we win, we can win his heart over again.

"Now, Arale, you know how this works? You and Luipos go over there, they prick your finger, and then you go over to where the rest of the girls your age are," Fiter said. The three of us will find a space in the crowd, and you can come find us afterwards, ok?"

"Unless we get reaped," Luipos replied.

"You wish," Tyles replied before nudging us off. I followed her instructions, getting in line with the other kids. I didn't flinch when the lady pricked my fingers, and as soon as she let me go I hustled to the front of where the girls were and slipped in. We were one of the last ones there, and it wasn't long before the anthem played and District 2's escort, Essq Smyder came out. She was dressed head to toe in a bright turquoise, her dress pulled to tight around her body. The video they played every year, with President Lotus talking about the Dark Days, came on and off, and finally what I was waiting for.

"First off, we will get the name of the girl tribute to represent District 2 in the fourth Quarter Quell." She practically hobbles over to the ball set in front of the girls, filled with all ours names. She fished around quickly, probably wanting to get out of her dress as soon as possible, and hustling herself back to the microphone. She fumbles trying to open the name, and she had to read it a couple times with her mouth open before she finally read the name aloud. "Arale Ulstrad."

I paused for a moment. Did she really say that? I wasn't as excited anymore. I never trained. I wasn't ready. As I walked up to the stage, I was begging for Fiter or Tyles to call out that they volunteer. But they couldn't. If it was two years ago, then they could. But that doesn't mean they would either. I was stuck. The only person that would possibly ever vote for me was standing on the guys' side. And before I knew it, Essq's clicking heels were back at my side with the boy tribute's name. "Luipos Ulstrad."

My heartbeat froze in my chest. I was lucky that my clever brother was waltzing up to the stage with a smug grin on his face, that all eyes were on him, because I was in complete panic. I was also lucky that I was frozen in fear. "Oh wow, is this your little sister, Luipos?" Essq ask. Luipos just nodded, grabbing my hand and shaking it. He seemed as smooth and calm as ever, but his eyes were intensely locked on mine. I nodded slightly, as if he was telling me to keep calm. I was a career. Careers always win. I would be safe, especially with my big brother. But it didn't help when I turned to see my two sisters in silent tears right before the doors to the Justice Building slammed behind me.

**POV District 2 Luipos Ulstrad**

Hunched over on the velvet couch in one of the waiting rooms, tapping my foot on the ground. I had waited a long time, and no one was coming to my rescue. I had a guaranteed shot to win the Hunger Games, at least in my head, until now. Now I had to go against my own little sister. "Hey Luipos," I looked up to see Fiter, with Tyles and my father right behind. "How you holding up?"

"I'm just fine," I answered. "How's Arale?" I had easily assumed that's where they had been. She nodded, each of them sitting on either side of me.

"She's a bit nervous," Tyles continued. "But mostly just because she didn't want to train," She added quickly. After sitting in silence for a few moments, she continued, "So what do you make of the Quarter Quell this year?"

"Well, it's definitely very interesting. They usually have had something that directly impacts the tributes, this year, not so much. So they've got some sort of secret waiting for us, and I can't wait to find out what that is," I explained.

"Yeah," Fiter commented. "Probably the radioactivity and nuclear stuff. Probably did something to the life there that'll add some sort of challenge."

"Rather disappoint really," My father growled.

We stayed silent, and when Fiter opened her mouth to say something, someone else spoke instead, "It's time to go." They had spent most of the time with Arale, and now we were out. Fiter and Tyles got up and left, but my father stayed behind. "Come on, let's go."

"I'll be out in a minute," My father told him.

He paused for a moment. "60 seconds," He said before shutting the door.

My father stood up and waltzed over to the door. "I want you to let Arale win."

"What?"

"The rest of the careers are gonna be harsh, they aren't gonna want an untrained twelve-year-old girl tagging along with them wherever they go. They probably won't even take her for numbers. But I don't care. You are either going to take her, or you are going to find yourself an alliance that will. You are going to use every breath to try and get her to the end, and if it comes to the last two of you, I want you to find her somewhere safe, and I want you to then go find some way to take the bullet for her. Ok?" He said, his hand on the doorknob.

"Ok."

"Promise me, Luipos. It may not seem like it, but I love all you guys. But I am not letting Arale die in that hell hole that have been glorified, even for some of the victims. You are not letting her die." His eyes were boring into me.

"I promise."


	5. Chapter 4 - District 3 Reaping

**POV District 3 Moria Kegariss**

"Moria?" I didn't react. I was still face down in my bed, hoping that if I pretended to be asleep my father would leave me alone. "Moria, I know you're not asleep. Come on."

With a heaving sigh, I sat up on the edge of my bed. I stayed silent for a moment, before turning over my shoulder to look at him. "I don't want to go." He gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Moria, no one ever wants to go to the Reapings," He explained, slowly walking over beside me. "But we have to go. The only people that don't go are as good as dead - whether they were already dying or not."

"The careers want to go," I said with a sniff. "And anyways, technically everyone's always dying. Every minute you life is one less minute we have left."

My father plopped down beside me, gently wiping the tears off my cheeks. "Well that's a depressing way to look at life." He then rustled up my hair. "Now how about you fix your hair now? I'll get your breakfast ready for you."

I hesitated a moment, taking a deep breath before responding. "Ok. Thank you." He nodded with a smile to me before getting up and heading out towards the kitchen. I stayed where I was on the bed for a few moments. This would be my third reaping. What were the odds that I'd never get picked? With my luck, I'd be the one picked to be sent to die in a wasteland.

**-X-X-X-**

"It'll be ok, I promise," My father said, his arm across my shoulders. I was too busy panicking to listen to him. "Alright, I'll be right over by the side. Find me afterwards, ok?" I nodded slowly, walking stiffly up into the line.

I was frozen in fear, just like every reaping I had participated in. The man had to say "Next," three times before I finally reacted and let him prick my finger. "Hey, go," He barked impatiently when I didn't move after he had finished.

"Sorry," I muttered, turning and shuffling away to find the other fifteen-year-old girls. I was shifting back and fourth on my feet, my eyes darting around wildly.

"Calm down," The girl next to whispered to me. "Look at how many others are here, and think of how many times the older girls have their names in. We'll be safe."

I stared at her for a moment. "Then how do twelve-year-olds get picked every year?" I retorted. She stood there, her mouth open, trying to find something to say. But the Anthem started to play, and she seemed grateful to have an excuse to turn away from me without an answer. But I tried to take her seriously. I took several deep breaths, calming myself down as District 3's escort, Coale Bell, started her rambling speech before playing the Dark Days video. Then I took my mind off it by trying to figure what exactly she was wearing.

She had long, lifeless brown hair rolling down her shoulders. She wore a giant fur coat that draped to the ground, and brown gloves that looked like they were made completely out of the spiky side of Velcro. Her fake, white eyelashes were about two inches long, and dark brown streaks were painted onto her face. You could see an inch of her shoes below her coat, which appeared to be insanely tall, dark brown heels. Her eyes were a cream color with dark brown flecks. I think she had different eyes last year, and this was the first year it appeared she wasn't wearing a wig. I had always thought that Capitol women didn't even have hair. But for all I knew, she didn't last year, and found some way to make it grow 5 feet in a year.

"First, we will draw for the girls," She said, pulling my attention back. Her voice was so high in the mic I wanted to cover my ears. When she made it to the bowl, she twirled her fingers around in the bowl through the papers, as if her hand was swimming, before she closed around her victim and brought it back over to the mic. She held it so close that the sound of the slip opening was being projected through the square. "A very pretty name," She began quietly, almost to herself, but it played out over the speakers, "Moria Kegariss."

I was frozen in place. "Moria?" All the girls started looking around, trying to see who was the one that was acting strange. I felt the same girl next to me turn, her gaze falling on me. I slowly turned to meet her, slowly beginning to shake more and more. She looked like she was about to burst into tears out of sympathy. But I could feel my shaking all the way in my bones. "Come on up, Moria."

The peacekeepers had spotted me, and motioned for me to walk over. I took one last look at the girl before I practically limped over to them. "Are you Moria Kegariss?" I nodded, and they instantly led me under the ropes. They were pressed around me as they led me up to the platform, preparing for my escape. But there was no way I would be able to run, even if I wanted to try.

"Come on," Coale said, taking my hand and leading me up. I was right, the pricks on her gloves were digging into my bare palms as she led me over to stand beside her at the mic. "And now for the boys," She said quickly, shuffling over to the bowl of boy names and grabbing the first one off the top. "Eagee Polkimtor."

I watched as a boy in the section of fifteen-year-olds gracefully and willingly went with the peacekeepers and stepped onto the stage. He was a whole lot taller than me for being just a year older. His face looked ice cold. When we shook hands, I was afraid he would break it with the pressure. "Let's go," Coale urged us into the building quickly, the slamming doors of the Justice Building ringing in my ears.

**-X-X-X-**

"Moria?" This was the first time today I responded immediately to my name. I stood up as my dad walking in, and he greeted me with a hug. "You'll be ok, you'll be ok," He said anxiously, and I couldn't tell which one of us he was trying to calm down. I could feel his tears dripping onto my shoulder, and I bent back to see his eyes were red. I wrapped my arms around his neck, tears rolling down my face. I have no idea how long we stayed like that before he spoke up, with a sniff, "You can do this."

"No I can't," I said with a stiff throat.

"Yes you can," He said, pulling away so he could look me in the eye. "When you were little, your mother was always nervous about your first reaping. And what I said to her was this, 'She is the smartest girl I've ever seen. She is strong, smart, beautiful, and she will out live all of us. The Hunger Games would be nothing but a bump in the road for her. She could have her name pulled every game from when she's 12 to 18, and she will win, every time. Because she wins her life every day.' I did not say it because I wanted to cheer her up. I said that because I believed it. And I still believe it - now more than ever."

"Did you see Eagee?" I whimpered. "He wasn't afraid at all - I think he got mixed up and is supposed to be a career!"

"I've met his family," He replied. "He's very bright, very strong, I'll admit. But even his mother agrees - she, in fact, was the one who told me this - that he doesn't have the will to live, the kind of will that can win this disgusting pageant."

"And I do?!"

"You do," He said firmly. "Like I said, you win your life every day. And I have no doubt to believe that you'll be able to here and there, in District 13."

"Its time to go," The familiar voice of the same peacekeeper came as he opened the door.

"I love you dad, I'll miss you," I told him, hugging him one last time.

"I'll miss you too," He replied with a sniff. He turned away and headed towards the door. He stopped himself right before he left and said, "I'll see you later. I promise you, I'll see you later."

I nodded, wiping the tears off my face with the sleeve of my jacket. "Ok. I promise you too."

**POV District 3 Eagee Polkimtor**

"Hey guys," I greeted my family as the door opened to the waiting room. I had been leaning right next to the door, and my older sister, Jokune, jumped as I spoke.

"Hey," She greeted, moving to let our mother and father in. "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I said, dismissing her quickly. "I'm more worried about the girl in the room over there, I can hear her crying in there." My family all exchanged a look. "What?"

"Well," My mother began. "We had been hoping you would try and make an alliance with her."

I stared at her for a moment. "Why?" They shared a look again. I hated it when they did that. It made me feel like they knew some sort of secret that I didn't know about, and it wasn't like they didn't do it often. Almost every sentence I said ended with a shared glance.

"We're friends with her father, for one thing," My father said. He seemed like he wanted to continue, but he was at a loss for words, and looked at Jokune and my mother, trying to find help.

"And frankly, you are going to need an alliance," Jokune said, looking from our father to me.

I gave her a glare. "Why do I need an alliance?" I demanded, crossing my arms angrily and giving them a glare behind my glasses.

"Because," My mother jumped in, cutting off Jokune before she sent something flying back at me. "The Capitol is going to have some sort of surprise waiting for you back at District 13. Whether they were telling the truth or not, back when they said it was too dangerous for Capitol reporters to go there, it is going to dangerous. And if its not, they will make it dangerous."

"And this is a Quarter Quell, this is where the Careers get harsher," My father continued. "They will turn on each other, because everyone wants to hold the title of 'Victor of the Quarter Quell'. Especially for the fourth Quarter Quell, especially for the one hundredth Hunger Games."

"And then," Jokune added on, "There's the fact that no lone tribute has every done well. Especially the geeks that come from District 3."

I glared at her again. "I am _not _teaming up with Moria. She's weak."

"It's time to go," The voice of the peacekeeper standing in the doorway said.

My mother and father said their goodbyes to me. Right before Jokune left, she paused in the doorway, looking to the side. She turned back to me, and behind her I saw a man walking away. It must've been Moria's father. "Fine then, screw Moria. But I want you to find an alliance - I don't care who, be as picky as you want - but find SOMEONE." I nodded in response, and then her face softened. "Bye Eagee. I'll see you on the TV."

"Bye Jokune. I'll find an alliance!" I called after her. She looked over her shoulder and nodded, giving me a wave before the peacekeepers came to move her along.

"Come with me," The peacekeeper then told me. I complied, following through the door. Waiting for me was Moria and another peacekeeper at her side. She was wiping tears off her cheeks, her eyes bright red. I wonder if Jokune had seen Moria and had agreed with me, or if she had seen her father and had agreed. For all I knew, her father was weak too. Like father like daughter.

"Had fun?" I said with a mocking smile. She looked at me, almost terrified. I snorted and followed after the peacekeepers, to be led to the train that would take us to the Capitol.


	6. Chapter 5 - District 4 Reaping

**POV District 4 Mekyl Clugar**

"This'll be fun, won't it?" I said as I walked out into the kitchen, my sister sitting at the table.

She smiled and nodded at me. "Every year," She agreed before throwing a walnut at the back of my head.

"So very nice," I mocked. "Where's mom and dad anyway? We need to get going don't we? What time is it?"

"Calm down!" She said, sounding exasperated, and she rolled her eyes when I glanced at her. "They went out to talk to the neighbors. I was sent in to get you."

"Oh, well this is a good idea, sitting down to lunch and waiting for me," I retorted. "Think you can draw me out like a bear? What would you have done if I never came out?" I pointed out, heading towards the door.

"I didn't think I'd bother walking into a fish net," Kinche replied, getting up and following me out to meet our parents. "I know you, Mekyl. There is no way you'd be late to the Reaping."

She had a point there. I had been excited about the Reaping even before I could get in them. I can remember talking about the Hunger Games the entire time I was learning to fish with Kinche. And then Kinche pushed me in the water afterwards. "Let's go," My mother said once she saw the two of us. I kicked along behind them for a while, kicking up so many rocks that Kinche shoved me after a while. And I stumbled right into a different family.

"Watch where you're going!" The oldest girl snapped at me.

Our parents had disappeared into the growing crowd, but Kinche stepped over beside me. "Need any assistance?" She asked, giving a look to the girl.

"No," I told her, glancing back to the girl. "I'm just fine."

"Whatever you say," She said before hurrying off, probably to find our parents.

"I'm Mekyl," I said, offering my hand to her. She just glared at me.

She had too little sisters scampering behind her, who heard my greeting. "My name's Seras!" The twelve-year-old girl said, pushing her way between the two of us. Seras looked like a mini version of her sister - long blond hair, pale blue eyes.

"And I'm Aledy!" The eight-year-old girl was almost the complete opposite, with dark brown hair and eyes.

"Well hello," I said with a smile.

"I think you're sister is trying to get your attention," The girl said, staring straight ahead. I saw Kinche standing by the lines of other kids waiting for the reaping, waving her hand back at me. "Sisters should stay together."

"Eh, you can catch up with you later. It would assume that your twelve, but I don't want to die to one, so you can say 'Hi' to Kinche with the other sixteen-year-olds, I'll be sure to have her stalk you," I said with a smirk before disappearing into the crowd. I could almost feel her trying to pull my hair out before I got away. "Hey," I greeted as I jogged up to meet her.

"Have fun getting stabbed, because that's what it looked like she was about to do," Kinche commented as she got into the line behind me.

"More than you could know," I replied with a smile.

After that we were silent. We were the last two in line, and I had to jump over to the other line so they could stab us and we could be off faster. We both had to run to our sections and duck under the ropes. Drik Maneso, District 4's escort, had already started playing the Dark Days video, giving the two of a glare before turning back to the video. "Well, now that everybody's here," he said, giving a poisonous glance at the two of us, remember exactly where the latecomers were standing. "We're going to pick the names of the tributes that will representing District 4 in the fourth Quarter Quell."

The stumpy man was wearing a teal and orange suit, and he had dark brown hair that was clearly a wig. He had tall shoes on, though probably if he was barefooted he'd have to get on his tiptoes to reach in the bowl. He dug to the very bottom of the bowl, and he had to brush some of the slips out of the cuffs of his sleeves back into the bowl. He carefully made his way back to the microphone, trying not to fall in his high heel shoes. "Poldra Umenvor."

I glanced towards the girls, expecting to see Kinche either shrug or volunteer, as we do every year when we don't get picked. But she was focused on the girl passing her to get to the stage. She kept he head down low, but I recognized her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. It was the same girl I had run into, with the little sisters - Seras and Aledy. Once she had gotten up to the stage, he quickly made his way to the bowl full of boy names and game back beside Poldra. "Eingi-"

"I volunteer!" I called out, raising my hand high in the air and ducking under the rope.

"Apparently we have a volunteer," Drik said, giving me a glare when he recognized it was me. I practically ran up to the stage, not allowing the peacekeepers to keep up with me. When I got up there, I could see all the color had drained from Poldra's face. "So what's your name?" Drik asked.

"Mekyl Clugar," I replied, leaning into the microphone. I could see one fourteen-year-old flushed. I guessed he was Eingi whoever, the one who's spot I stole. I couldn't wipe the broad smile to my face. I turned toward the girls side, and I saw Kinche just staring at me. I shrugged, and she smiled back at me. She was the first one to start clapping, starting while Drik announced to, receiving another glare from him. We weren't helping him at all. And now he'd be stuck with me for a while longer.

Drik then hustled us off into the Justice Building. As soon as the doors closed, Poldra turned and started giving me a death glare. At first, I ignored her, acting as if I didn't have anything bugging me. Then I turned to her, putting on a rather surprised and hurt face. And then I just gave her a smile. She was so mad she looked like she'd be in tears. But it was her problem, not mine. She would have to get used to it. Unless she wanted to forfeit her automatic acceptance into the Career alliance, she would be dealing with me even after the games begin.

**POV District 4 Poldra Umenvor**

"Hey," I looked up as my father's voice as he entered, with Seras and Aledy stampeding in after him. "I thought you'd be more excited about getting in the fourth Quarter Quell - it's a big deal."

"Yeah, I was," I said, pulling Aledy up onto my lap and Seras plopping onto the seat next to me. "Until Mekyl Clugar volunteered."

"Well, who's Mekyl Clugar?" He asked, sitting on the other side of Seras.

"This obnoxious kid I met right before the Reaping," I growled, setting Aledy beside me.

"I thought he was nice!" Seras protested, and Aledy nodded in agreement, bouncing on the velvet cushions. I sneered at her response.

"Well, you might want to try and warm up to him," My father suggested. "Because the only way you can get away from him is if you don't ally with the other careers - and trust me," He added before I got any ideas. "That'll be the death of you."

"It might be the death of me to stay with them too," I retorted. "He's insane!"

"Well, you don't always have to make friends wit him," Seras pointed out. "To win, he'll have to die at some point. It's good to trust and have trust in the alliances, but you don't want to put yourself in a position where you'll miss him if he goes."

I nodded, staying silent for a moment. I put my arm over her shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. "You are a lot more grown up than I thought." Aledy joined in, and when my father decided to stay out, Aledy and Seras jumped up on him.

"I think he likes you," Aledy said innocently.

"Yeah well," I told her with a sigh, "If he does, he's very bad at getting me to like him."

"Well, if he does, he'll be dead soon," My father added. Seras and Aledy both started laughing, and while I glare at him, I was smiling.

"It's time to go," The peacekeeper informed us when he opened the door.

"Bye Poldra!" Seras said, jumping off our father's lap.

"Bye," Aledy agreed.

"Goodbye, you'll be great!" My father added as he herded the two wild girls out the door.

"And you can come with me," The peacekeeper added after they had left. When I got out, I found Mekyl leaving at the exact same time.

"Hello," He said, putting on the same wide, smug smile on his face. I gave him a hard look. I somewhat wanted to say something harsh, my lips quivering, but I felt that the silence was harsher. "Hmm," He simply responded, his hands behind his back as he strolled after the peacekeepers on the way to the train. I was frozen for a minute, my arms crossed over my chest, before stomping on after him.


	7. Chapter 6 - District 5 Reaping

**POV District 5 Kaiadra Skeless**

"Kaiadra?" I was heading towards where the girls were roped off for the Reaping, when someone called out my name. I turned around, but I didn't see anyone. "Kaiadra!" I then spotted my two younger cousins standing a little ways behind me.

"Oh, I'm sorry Garace, I thought your father told you what to do." It was her first year for the Reaping. I lived with them and my uncle, since my parents had passed on. He had told me to act like a career, for one day. Just pretend the Reaping is nothing to worry about, even like it'll be fun. I just had to bite my tongue until Garace and her brother figured it out on their own - the Hunger Games will be the death of them. Now of course they had seen the Hunger Games and the Reapings, but they just hadn't linked it yet - anyone that's called, at least for our district, is pretty much condemned to death.

She nodded. "He did. But Rilas wanted to say good luck."

I smiled. "Thank you buddy," I said, crouching down to be eye-level with him. "But we need to find your father." I picked him up, looking around the swarm of people. "Garace, you go on ahead to the line. Remember, she's going to prick your fingers - it won't hurt too bad. Then go find the other twelve-year-old girls, ok? Just wait with them, and come find me or your father and Rilas. They'll be somewhere in the back, and I'll be with the thirteen-year-old girls, ok?"

She nodded. "I'll see you Rilas!" She added before charging off towards the line.

"Rilas, do you know where you're dad was?" I asked, not being able to find my uncle myself.

"He was other there!" Rilas pointed towards the far corner of the town square.

"Tell me if you see him, Rilas," I told him before I started running off in the direction he pointed. "This is where he was," Rilas said, stopping me at the very edge. I looked around, but I couldn't see him.

"Yeros! Uncle Yeros, where are you?" I called over the crowd, getting me a lot of looks. I should be in the ropes. Of course, I couldn't imagine any of these people would want me to be there so I could get picked, but they wouldn't want me to get caught running around here. Peacekeepers would beat me 'til I couldn't stand and then force me to volunteer if they caught me 'trying to skip the Reapings'. They'd never believe my real story - they never do. They'd take almost any chance to drive whips into someone's back.

"Kaiaidra? Rilas?" I looked over my shoulder, to see my uncle running over to me. "What's wrong? Where's Garace?"

"It's fine, she was checking in when I left her," I explained, handing Rilas over to his father. "I already checked in so I came to help Rilas find you."

"Thank you," He told me before looking around. "You better hurry, I think they're about to start."

I followed his gaze, and he was right. All but a couple people had checked in already. The mentors for this year and the mayor had settled down, and Risny King, District 5's escort, was on the edge of her seat. "Alright, see you after!" I called to him before charging back through the crowd.

"Hey!" A peacekeeper stopped me before I could get to the rest of the girls. "You need to check in!"

"I already did," I called back to him, though I stopped as he and two other peacekeepers came my way. "I had to go help my six-year-old cousin find his father."

But he didn't care. He grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me over to the peacekeepers standing with empty lines. "Either of you already seen this girl?" He barked to them. They looked at each other, and then to me.

"My name's Kaiadra Skeless, I'm thirteen," I told them painfully. His grip was tight, and he was tall enough to hold my elbow up at an awkward angle. I had always been tall for my age, but now I had never felt smaller in my whole life. The Anthem had started and finished playing, and I looked over my shoulder to see Risny was standing at the microphone, greeting everyone before she started the Dark Days video. She was wearing bright yellow, like a Canary, and her dress was cut off very high. She had a yellow feather head piece, with her blue and purple dyed hair weaved up into it. She had tall yellow boots stopping just below her knees, and black rings were painted around her eyes.

"That doesn't seem realistic," The peacekeeper growled at me, leaning down to look at me in the eyes. "You look fifteen to me. Look at me," He snapped when my eyes drifted to the two peacekeepers behind him, who were exchanging looks. "Look at me!" He ripped his helmet off, and I almost jumped out of my skin when I recognized Vetimy Veserad, the head peacekeeper for District 5. He was the youngest, and the unofficial harshest, head peacekeeper in history. I met his bright green eyes and looked away to the two that were shifting through their names, trying to see if they could find me. They had stopped, watching me almost sympathetically - though I could only guess since they were keeping their helmets on for their lives.

"Hey!" He barked, luckily right before the video ended so his voice was masked.

"As always, we will pick the name of the girl tribute for District 5 first," Risny began. I glanced towards her, and saw her staring directly at me. Her eyes followed me as she walked over to the bowl, missing her first attempt to grab a name she was so distracted.

"Look at me." He yanked on my arm, forcing my body to turn back towards him. I shut my eyes tight, my breath beginning to come fast. I gritted my teeth. What was I doing? "That isn't even a real name is it? Who the hell are you, you little-"

"Kaiadra Skeless." It felt like every person in the world froze. His grip froze on my arm, his words froze in his lungs, my body was frozen in place, my eyes were frozen wide open. There was mumbling from the kids at the Reaping and the people gathered at the edge. The peacekeepers gathered around were sharing looks. I was the first one to break the silence, slowly beginning to shake all over as I broke out of my ice block of fear. I slowly turned to look towards Risny, who had focused on me from the stage. Slowly everyone followed her gaze, and soon all eyes were on me, all cameras were on me.

"Sir," The female peacekeepers sitting behind the desk whispered. He didn't move his head, but his eyes darted to her. "Kaiadra Skeless, she was the 7th kid I checked in. 13, with 3 Tesserae claims." He came back to look at me, and I had turned back to look at him.

"You aren't going to see your family," He snarled, like a dog with rabies. He yanked my arm down, but let go of his deadly grip. I kept my eyes locked on him as I made my was stiffly towards the stage. I then turned around forward, trying to control my shaking. I glanced towards the twelve-year-olds, and I saw Garace leaning out over the ropes, standing in the very front. I could see it in her eyes that she had learned the truth now. I didn't turn away from her as I climbed up onto the stage. I glanced towards the corner of the square as Risny went to quickly grab the boy's name. I spotted my Uncle Yeros, staring at me with a pained look, with Rilas crying in his arms and tugging on his sleeves.

"Aldmos Sulorad," Risny King announced. My eyes turned to the boys. I recognized his name. He was known for being emotionally uncontrollable. His familiar face stumbled out from the eighteen-year-old boys, and practically hobbled up to the stage. When he got up there, I saw could see that his whole body was shaking. When we shook hands, his palm was sweating and I looked up to see his eyes were red and his cheeks were red.

But as Risny signed out, Vetimy Verserad's words starting ringing in my head. "You aren't going to see your family...you aren't going to see your family...you aren't going to see your family..."

"Wait!" I screamed out, but we were now in Justice Building and being led down the halls. The peacekeepers didn't listen, Risny King didn't listen, and Aldmos was clearly too busy focusing on his own problems. I saw two fancy, decorated rooms, side by side with the doors open. We were marched right past them, out to a car with a ton of cameras. He hadn't lied. He had already gotten word to the peacekeepers. We were heading straight to the train. I wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye to Garace, Rilas, or Yeros. The last they would ever see of me in real life would be me being tormented by a peacekeeper.


	8. Chapter 7 - District 6 Reaping

**POV District 6 Arda Emc**

It was time for everybody's favorite day. The day people wait for all year. The Reaping. Among my family, the Reaping day is dreaded. We didn't even speak at all this morning, we have gotten to used to our routine. My sister, Kay, and would get up at virtually the same time and go out to eat dinner with our brother, Bourr, and our parents. She would get dressed while I did my hair, and then I'd get dressed while she did her hair. We'd wait around in the living room with Bourr until our parents were ready, and then we'd leave. You'd think it'd be boring. But all of us are too solemn and scared to focus on that.

Our family has always felt like the "odds weren't in our favor". Once we turned twelve, we were waiting for the day we would get picked. I know that others that had three children didn't feel the same. But since we we're triplets, it hits all three of us together. This is our fourth year in the Reaping. It's a scary thing. Especially since either me or Kay could get picked the same year as Bourr.

"Hey, next," The peacekeeper barked at me. I looked down at my feet while she pricked my finger, and I shuddered as she pressed her finger down. I had always been very intolerant to pain. I could almost feel the pain the tributes were when I saw them on the TV screen. Definitely not a good quality for a tribute. But I wanted to make an impact. I looked up an smiled at her before leaving.

"Thank you." I could feel her eyes follow me as I went to follow Kay, who had already gotten through the line, to our section of the Reaping. I was shaking inside my skin, only showing through my eyes.

"Hey, it's ok," Kay said, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.

I couldn't help but smile back at her, but the Anthem started playing, cutting me off. "We'll be fine," I whispered back to her. Of course, I didn't pay any attention to our escort, Dylin Perab, or any of the Dark Days stuff. I could easily step up and say everything he said, and I could narrate the entire video just like President Lotus, and I could do it without a script. My eyes drifted off towards the boys' section. Kay and I had each other during the reaping. Bourr didn't have anyone to tell him that it would be ok. He just had to tell himself. I finally saw him, and I could see his lips moving. I turned to my right, and sure enough, Kay was doing the same.

Every year, the three of us would always mouth the words. And at home, we sometimes would even mock the President, putting on a show for our parents. I turned back to the front stage, and all of a sudden the bright colors of Dylin Perab's suit hit me. Bright turquoise with lime green, with dark magenta cuffs and streaks through his ginger-brown hair. "And first, we will choose the girls' tribute."

"I think I'm going to have a seizure," I whispered to Kay as he strutted over to the bowl and started ravaging through it with a giant paw for a hand. Dylin had always been a bit of a giant. Sometimes even the eighteen-year-olds couldn't match his height.

She smiled at me. "I know I've never seen a real bear, but I'm pretty sure not even the Capitol can make ones with those colors."

When he came back to the center of the stage, he had a look of such pride on his face as he opened the card. I couldn't help but smile, in mock of him. "Kay Emc."

The smile was immediately wiped off my face. "What was that?" I said quietly. And as if in response, his voice played in my head again. Kay started to move past me. I watched her, dumbfounded, until I realized what she was doing. We had always said when we were little that if one of us got picked, the one of the others would go to take their spot - whoever was brave enough. That was back when we were really little, because we thought we'd be able to save Bourr, or he would save one of us. It had probably ten years since then. But I remember it being a promise. It was a promise I would keep.

I shoved past her and ducked under the rope. We were identical twins except for one thing - our eyes. Bourr and Kay had dark brown eyes. I had dark blue. But who would memorize the difference between a pair of nearly identical sisters? Only our family and friends would. "Hey!" Kay screamed when she realized what I had done, running to the edge of the rope. I held my hand out to stop her, before rushing ahead of the peacekeepers to the stage. I kept looking back at her, and she had her mouth hanging open. She wanted to volunteer, but she couldn't wrap her head around what was going on. She couldn't think to volunteer, only to go up there and say her name was Arda.

But the thing was, I was too shocked with myself to announce I was a volunteer. To announce that, "My name is Arda Emc, and I volunteer as tribute." I couldn't do it. I stood up on the stage, rocking on the heels of my feet, my mouth open, trying to say it. But I couldn't.

And then Dylin came back over, and right before I could muster the courage, he announced the boy tribute, "I'iem Perech."

What would I do now? Now they have the two names. It was way too late to announce I was a volunteer for the girls, now that the boy was up on the stage too. I was still a gape as the escort started to herd us into the Justice Building, though he practically had to shove me the whole way. It hit me that I needed to go back. And as soon as I did, I tried to turn us all around and tear back through the doors. But Dylin held me back, without even trying, and I saw that the doors slammed shut. I was now condemned to be Kay Emc. What would the real Kay do from now on? Pretend she is me? She wouldn't be able to enter the reaping as Kay anymore, considering I'd be dead. She'd have to be Arda Emc. But the peacekeepers would have proof that her blood belongs to Kay Emc, not to Arda Emc.

It was very simple, what I had done. I screwed both of us.

**POV District 6 I'iem Perech**

I stood pacing in the waiting room until my aunt and uncle came. As soon as they walked into the room, I wrapped my arms around them. I felt worse for them than me. My parents had died long ago, and I had moved in with them. But they told me that their daughter, Wuir, had been reaped in the games. I had never met my cousin, because she died in the games. Now their nephew, who they had took in as their son, was getting reaped in. I couldn't die. But there was no way I could live through this either. "It's ok," I told them immediately. "I'll win. I'll live. I'll come back."

"I'iem, nobody ever wins," My uncle growled, pulling away and plopping down onto one of the chairs. I sat down on the couch, my aunt right next to me, her arm still across my shoulders. "Their either careers - otherwise, cheaters - or their not the same. You either have to cheat, or you have to survive. Wuir couldn't survive. You don't have to."

That struck me hard. "We want you to w-live," My aunt said, correcting herself, though she still received a look from my uncle. "But you don't have to for us, for Wuir."

"And we know Kay's family," My uncle continued. "Their very nice. We helped the mother when she had triplets. Kay is one of them - identical triplets. She has her sister Arda, and her brother Bourr. You'd have to separate them if you want to come back."

"This is ridiculous!" I snapped at him, leaning forward, away from my aunt. "You are telling me that it'll be better for everything if I just die in that arena!"

"What are the odds you'll even come back?" He growled, leaning back and readjusting this glasses.

"Nothing," I said immediately. "Everyone in the lower districts know that their as good as dead. But at least their families wouldn't _tell_ them that!"

"I already told someone that, and do you know what happened?" He yelled back.

"Time to go," The peacekeeper's voice came.

"Why so soon?" My aunt asked.

"What, you want the fight to go on longer?" I retorted. My aunt and uncle shared a look, and silently got up and left.

I had always known that my aunt and uncle wouldn't take kindly to me getting reaped, but it hadn't occurred to me that they'd practically tell me to die. The door creaked, and I looked up to see a girl and boy standing in the door. I recognized their faces, but I couldn't place them. But as they sat down on the chairs across from me awkwardly, I recognized them. They looked exactly like Kay, my tribute partner. These must be her siblings. "Hello," I greeted tentatively.

"Hi," The girl said, jumping to take my lead. "My name is Kay, and this is Bourr."

"Kay? But Kay's in the other room...isn't she? Or is that her...what?" I stuttered, completely confused.

"I was called," The girl continued. "But our sister - Arda - took my spot. But she didn't volunteer as herself."

"Why?" I asked, less confused than intrigued now.

"We just talked to her," Bourr jumped in. "She said that she was so in shock _herself_ that she couldn't bring herself to say her real name in time. When we were about five, we all said that if one of us got reaped, one of the other two would step into take their place," He went on. "We got older and realized how dumb that was. That and the fact that the two of them can't volunteer for me, and I can't volunteer for either of them. But apparently, Arda decided to anyway."

"Anyways," Kay continued. "We have a request."

"What's that?" I asked. The story was very touching, but it seemed that Arda had gotten them all into more trouble than it was worth.

"We want you to protect her."


	9. Chapter 8 - District 7 Reaping

**POV District 7 Aleas Chemore**

"Don't worry," My mother assured me as we walked, hand in hand, towards the town square. "Remember? There's no chance either of you will get reaped." I had reminded myself that every night and morning since the card reading. I don't know what it was about the Quarter Quell that made me uneasy - I had survived four years so far, and Cidet had survived six. But I was still scared. I didn't _want_ to see what was left of District 13. I just had to hope that they would rig it to pick the kids with the biggest conspiracies against the Capitol, the ones who had conspiracies about District 13. But I felt almost knocked off my feet when I realized that would probably mean Cidet for District 7.

"Come find me and your aunt after, ok?" My mother reminded me before heading off after her sister, leaving me alone. I could see Cidet was already in line, and I quickly jogged over to him and jumped in line behind them. I almost said something, but I could see the muscles in his back were tense as soon as I had approached. I bit down on my tongue, keeping myself quiet, and looking around aimlessly. What if he was more scared than I was? This was his last year, eighteen. No one could let their guard down even at his point, because eighteen-year-olds had the best chance of getting reaped.

"Unless you come find me," I muttered under my breath, as if my mother was still beside me. I glanced upwards, remembering where I am. Cidet didn't shift a single muscle. I fixed my eyes on his very short cut black hair, waiting to see if he'd turn to meet me.

"Next," Before I knew it, Cidet was out of line, and I was next. As I let the peacekeeper prick my finger, I watched him almost sprint to this section. I had no explanation for that, but what did I know about Cidet? Maybe he just wanted to get the Reaping over with quickly. When the peacekeeper let me go, I shuffled along to the fifteen-year-old girls and waited for it to start, shifting on my feet.

Once the Anthem began and District 7's escort, Belm Picker, began. He was wearing a deep blue suit, accented by brown shoes, shirt, and flower. He was very handsome, unlike pretty much all of the other male escorts I had ever seen. But it was always buried under makeup and bright clothes. The only thing he left untouched was his face features and long-ish black hair because he even came to the Reaping with different eye colors every year. This time he had a bright blue. I studied his outfit during the whole Dark Days recount until he said, "And now, we will have the ladies go first."

My eyes kept shifting from him inching his way to and from the bowl to the cameras set up around the square, biting my lip. I had always been extremely wary of them. I hated talking in front of people, and the idea that everything I did would be in front of people I can't even see. "Don't stand out," I muttered under my breath. "If you don't stand out, the cameras will ignore you, the people will ignore you.

"Aleas Chemore." I looked up at my name, and when my eyes focused on Belm, I almost fell off my feet. I realized who said my name. I realized what it meant. My mouth hung open, and I glanced around at the other girls as their gazes slowly collected on me. Their eyes were full of pity and sympathy for me, and one girl gently nudged me towards the rope. I tried to walk forward, but my legs were pulling back on me. Peacekeepers were waiting, and as soon as I broke away from the cover of the other girls they whisked me up to the stage.

"Alright!" Belm announced enthusiastically once he had led me over to the center of the stage. "Now for the guys!" I bit down hard on my tongue and sunk my finger nails into my palm, trying to keep from running or screaming. I kept my eyes fixed straight in front of me, focusing on a banner that had all the District crests. District 7's was bolded in the center, with the Capitol seal on either side. Maybe the cameras would focus on Belm instead of me. And I only shifted my gaze when he returned to my side with my district partner - or otherwise my home opponent. "Cidet Shyn."

This had to be a sick joke. "What?" I asked, leaning over and whispering to Belm. He gave me a look of such confusion and disgust before turning and walking over to the other side of the stage. I stayed frozen, watching as my cousin headed towards me. I had always had the feeling all along, but only now was I facing the fact that he hated me as his green eyes bore into me like a blade. And it probably wouldn't be very long before I felt the same pain as he flung and axe blade into my back. And that was if he didn't decide to start the games early. My hand was dead weight in his when we shook hands. And as Belm turned us around and ushered us into the Justice building, I whispered to the escort, "Please kill me now."

Belm gave me another look before silently moving us into our waiting rooms. I didn't want to go against Cidet. He was tall, he was strong, he knew how to fight, he already seemed to have a lack of compassion, he was the perfect tribute. He was one of the people from the lower districts that could actually stand a chance - though I had only seen a lower district victor in old reruns. The careers have been winning every live game I've ever seen.

The door creaked open, and I expected to see my mother and aunt, but I didn't. It was Belm Picker. He leaned against the doorway, the same expression still plastered onto his face. "What's your problem?"


	10. Chapter 9 - District 8 Reaping

**POV District 8 Miryp Arhone**

"Miryp," I looked up to see Kallora leaning against the doorway. "Why are you up so early? And outside?"

I looked away from her and back out in front of me. I heaved a sigh, drifting back to the scarf I was knitting in my lap. I was sitting on the steps of the house, which was centered in Victor's Village, which was dead empty now. "Why do you think?"

She came down and sat beside me. It was warming with her there, in the chilly, dark morning. "You know, you aren't crazy," She said gently. I didn't look at her. "Your mother, father, they're just upset. Loosing Orrine to the Games, and Ati right after. They just...they didn't like someone bringing it up, and the fact that you and Beuv could be next." I glanced at her for a moment. I wanted to say something stupid, like 'Beuv deserves to go into the Games', or 'If they really cared whether or not I went to the games, they wouldn't send me to live with you', but I kept my mouth shut. "The Games are rigged sometimes, you know."

I don't know why, but I felt hope when I heard her. "Really?"

She nodded. "I never really noticed until I was reaped myself, back in the 3rd Quarter Quell." It was a chilling reminder. She was pulled for the 3rd Quarter Quell, and I could feel something in my bones that I would get pulled for the 4th. "I don't know why they would've picked me, but I noticed later what stood out. Really, what were the odds that the tributes from District 3 that year were both siblings of a previous Victor? What really were the odds that so many young children, including me, would get Reaped? The older men and women, their names would be in there over a hundred times - since they decided to keep the name count rules normal, even for those over eighteen. How did only two elderly people get pulled, and how did they both happen to be from the same District, and how did they happen to be married?"

It made sense...because it didn't make sense. How exactly could it happen by chance? Some miraculous things can happen, but not like that. "They want entertainment." Her voice got tight for a moment. "Having a five-year-old girl get reaped, just so her father will volunteer to go in with her. Just so they can be the last two. Just so he can commit suicide." I had never seen the 75th Games. I hadn't known what happened. But now I knew why she had been alone until I came to live with her. "They don't do it every year, but that's what I've done with my life - for 25 years - seeing as I don't need to earn any money. I watch the reruns, I watch to see how often they rig it. And now, I know.

"Did they rig Ati's game right after Orrine? She made it to the last five tributes, she was popular, they might have decided to bring in Ati!" I stated, excitement coursing through me. I didn't want to be insane. Maybe I could buy my way back home, with Kallora's help.

"But sometimes," She continued, her voice dropping grimly. "They only rig a couple Districts, and leave the others to chance. Then, I can't tell. So, I don't know if Ati's came was rigged or not. But, they did rig District 3, 4, and 5's Reapings that year. But I remember that the boy wasn't rigged at all. Even so, I personally believe that half of District 8's Reaping wasn't entirely real."

"You really believe it?" I asked. Tears were starting to blur my vision, and I spoke with a sniff.

Her eyes filled with sympathy, and she tucked my blond hair behind my ear, brushing it out of my face. "I do." Her bright red hair was already brushed and pulled back in a pony tail, though she was wearing her night gown with a trench coat wrapped around her shoulders. "You go get dressed, I'll do the same and make some breakfast, then I'll do your hair, ok?"

I nodded. She had deep brown eyes, and they were starting to fill with tears too. "Ok."

She gave me a hug, running her fingers through my hair. "It'll be ok. I promise." She got to her feet, helping me up. Stretching her arm over my shoulder, she lead me back inside. "I promise."

**-X-X-X-**

"You look so pretty, maybe Mortanny will see you and make _sure_ your name isn't called," Kallora told me as we started our long trek from the Victor's Village to the Town Square. Mortanny Worage was District 8's escort.

"I'm pretty sure he's married, Kallora," I pointed out. She shrugged, though she got me to put a smile on my face.

"Wait up!" We both turned to see Ineran - Ineran Alever - jogging after us. His older sister, Eldoll Alever, was another Victor, before Kallora won. She had died from alcohol poisoning by the 75th, but because they would've had a shortage of mentors, Ineran took was allowed to take her spot, once he was old enough - but the Capitol made sure they didn't make a big deal about it, especially due to her cause of death. But even once Kallora, the five-year-old victor, came along, they kept him up to their deal. But considering he was ten at the time, it would still be a long while. It now struck me that it may have been rigged so Ineran wouldn't get reaped again, just so they would have two mentors. They probably had a conspiracy against a single mentor for two tributes, considering the stories I had heard of the Star-crossed lovers of the 74th Hunger Games.

"Hey Ineran," Kallora greeted with a smile. Once he caught up with us, he put his arm over Kallora's shoulders and gave her a kiss on the cheek. My back tensing, I hustled ahead a bit. I had known their relationship when I had arrived to live in the Victor's Village. They had always been kind, they had always been welcoming, I felt like I was intruding. I always felt awful when I saw the two of them together. I felt like I didn't belong there. But apparently, I didn't belong back home. I didn't really belong anywhere.

**-X-X-X-**

"And now," Mortanny Worage continued. I had almost fallen asleep, though I don't know how, considering I was terrified from head to toe. "We'll start with the girls' tribute." Behind his green, blue, and brown silhouette, sat Ineran, with an older man who had won several years before the 3rd Quarter Quell, Still Perhon. Considering it was "Crazy Still" and someone who had never set foot in the Games, there wasn't much hope for assistance for the District 8 tributes. I glanced back to Mortanny as he stood center-stage, unfolding the name.

I closed my eyes tight, my gaze falling to the mud and dust covered tiles on the ground of the Town Square. I was waiting for it. I knew it was coming. "Miryp Arhone." And tears started dripping onto my shoes within seconds. I didn't look up at the girls around me, I kept my eyes to the floor and stiffly walked towards the center of the square. I ran into the rope before I ducked under. I didn't wait for the peacekeepers to catch up to me, I just kept walking.

I glanced up to see a look of horror growing on Ineran's face, though he had to keep it masked for the cameras. When I glanced over to the side once I got to the twelve-year-old girls. Beuv was shaking, standing on the edge near the rope. Since the peacekeepers had left gaps, thinking I was being cooperative, I ran straight past them towards the rope. Beuv tried to back away, but the crowd of the other girls kept her from going back. "You're next!" I screamed, trying to grab her by the collar of her dress. "Orrine, Ati, Miryp, and Beuv! The _dead_ Arhone sisters!" I was in tears, and so was she. The peacekeeprs grabbed my arms, pulling me away and forcing me to the stage.

Once I got up to the stage, Mortanny's hand clamped down on my shoulder. "And now for the boys' tribute," He declared, exasperated. I was shaking on the stage once he left, and when he made a prompt return with the boy's name, he put his arm over my shoulder again. Probably to keep me from running.

I picked out Kallora in the crowd. She had her hand clamped over her mouth, and I could hear faint, muffled cries coming from her direction, pacing in circles. I picked out my parents. My mother looked hysterical, and my father met my gaze. I glared, and I pointed towards him, mouthing, "It should've been you!"

"Sulsay Honshye." More screaming and crying filled the town square. I knew him. It was his younger sister, Sillian, that was crying. I was able to find them in the crowd. Their father was trying to calm her down, picking her up. Their mother was at their side, staring in shock up towards the stage. Sulsay made his way out of the crowd of fifteen-year-olds. He was a year older than me, though we were friends.

I glanced back at Ineran, and that forward to find Kallora again. "It was rigged?" I mouthed, and Kallora's hand slowly fell from her lips. She nodded slowly, her eyes wide with fear. Mortanny didn't leave my side to guide Sulsay up. His stubby fingers dug into my skin, and I grinded my teeth. He finally let go when we were to shake hands. Tears were collecting in Sulsay's brown eyes, but I was way ahead of him.

"Let's give a hand for our tributes from District 8, Miryp Arhone and Sulsay Honshye!" Mortanny announced. He knew our names too well. Like he had already known who was supposed to be drawn. He barely let us hear their forced rejoice, quickly turning us around to shove us into the Justice Building.

Once the doors had closed, I dropped to my knees. I put my head in my hands, and it briefly crossed my mind that they'd be able to hear my screaming and crying outside. Mortanny made a move for me, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me up, but Sulsay stepped forward, kneeling beside me. I glanced through my fingers, and I could see and angry look on his face. Sulsay met him bravely. "I've got this," He said firmly, and our escort's face turned from anger to shock.

He turned back to me, and my hands had dropped into my lap. "It's ok," He whispered more gently. He put his arm over my shoulder, grabbing my arms softly, and guiding me to my feet. Mortanny stomped off towards the waiting room, and Sulsay stayed beside me as we followed. He ushered me into my room before Mortanny almost choked him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging me out.

Left alone with my thoughts, I started justifying myself - _to_ myself. I rush of words flowed through my head, but only one explanation for my actions stood out. These Games would be the end of me.


	11. Chapter 10 - District 9 Reaping

**POV District 9 Adshywor Tash**

There are so many statistics, so many different ways the world can work. With every breath a person takes, they could just as easily stop. With every word a person says, they could just as easily say another. With every choice a person makes, they could just as easily choose another. With every event that ever happens, something else could happen entirely. Just as easily as the old, "remarkable" President Snow took the highroad and extinguished the flames the 74th Victor_s, _he could've done something drastic right away, and what would've happened then? Just as easily as my name - Adshywor Tash - could be said as the District 9 tribute for the 100th Hunger Games, my best friend - Estos Voif - could be called instead. Or his sister, Saest Voif. Or a combination of one of us _and_ her. "It's a dangerous thing we play," I said with a sigh.

We were laying out in the grain fields, though it would be a long while before it grew in the fall. Estos looked towards me, though he didn't respond. "What, the Games?" Saest asked, carefully brushing my hair. She had tried to argue that coming and laying in the dirt while she did our hair for us would be counterproductive, but she had given up by now.

"Anything really," I responded. I squinted my eyes to keep the sun out, and my elbows were getting sore from digging in the dirt to prop myself up. "Just life in general. Obviously the Hunger Games are dangerous. But how easily something else could kill you."

Saest and Estos shared a look. "It's Reaping day. It always messes with his head."

"Think about it," I insisted, sitting up. "There are hundreds of people that can just go through life without ever being touched or effected by the Reapings or the Games, and others who can have their entire family just disappear."

The two of them didn't respond, and we fell silent for a long while before we silently all got up to return to our families and head for the Town Square. We walked side by side in silence, and I somewhat wished I had kept my mouth shut. They were right, the Reapings always made me overthink things. We got in the same line to sign in. I was first in line, followed by Estos, and then Saest. I noticed the peacekeepers shared a glance. It would've been a whole lot easier if we got in separate lines, but we refused to separate. Though in the long run, I would get through and stand with the other eighteen-year-olds before Estos would join me, and Saest wouldn't. She was year younger than the two of us and was also a girl, so we wouldn't be anywhere near her.

I realized this would be my last year, my last Reaping. But if I grew up and had my own kids, I'd still be in the Reaping. But maybe I could actually be one of the people that never gets touched by the Reapings, never gets hurt by them. But what if Estos got pulled? That would affect me, I would've be able to live without my best friend. Or Saest getting reaped. I realized, with a massive wave crushing me, how much I didn't want her to get hurt either. It was a terrible thing to be realizing now, since I had never realized it before though we had been by one another's side since we were young. This was my last year, but she would have one more. I would've been concerned for her no matter what, but now I was more worried for her than for me. I had a better chance of getting called, with statistics, but why wouldn't the world want to hurt me?

"Next, next, are you deaf?" The peacekeeper growled at me. Estos nudged me forward, and I was snapped into reality. I quickly complied, and the peacekeeper was glad to get me through quickly and get rid of me. I made my way over to the back of the guys, glancing back to the line. Estos was focused on getting signed in, but Saest had turned. When I locked my dark brown eyes on her blue-silver eyes, she gave me a gentle, sympathetic smile and a small wave. I just kept looking over my shoulder, smashing right into the rope before I finally had to turn away and duck under.

I looked back around, keeping my eyes on her even though she was now getting checked in and Estos made his way to me. "Hey," He greeted, slipping in beside me.

"Hey," I replied tightly, turning around to face the stage. We didn't say any more, but just being beside one another kept us from trying to run. Within a couple minutes, the anthem began to play. Romara Hind was the name of our escort. This year, she was dressed in a golden brown, skin tight dress that went down to her ankles, which forced her to shuffle. She had a matching, long stretch of fabric wrapped around her neck, shoulders, and arms and then continued to fall to the ground. Her dark brown, almost black hair was curled so tightly it looked like she had cinnamon buns from the bakery draped from her head. Her face was painted with make-up so you could barely see her pink-dyed eyes.

Her voice was scratchy and tough, and she always sounded like she had drank too much. I paid attention to her during the Dark Days video, and she was wobbling back and forth of her extremely tall, cream heels. I guessed she would've wanted to sit down, but I could barely even see her body move with her breathing, even considering that I was a good distance from her. "And now," She continued, her voice strained. "We'll first pick the girl."

She half shuffled, half limped over to the girls' bowl. She seemed to loose her balance once she got there, leaning into the bowl wall she shuffled the names though her fingers. She finally picked one, shoving herself out of the bowl before making her way back to the microphone. She continued to shift as she tried to undo the tape keeping the name folded. I noticed that her nails, which were painted yellow and pink, were chewed to their nail beds. After a minute or so of struggling, she ripped it open and read quickly into the microphone, "Saest Voif."

_NO. No, no, no, no, no, no..._ I was wobbling on my feet, and I couldn't catch myself before I tripped backward, pulling the rope down with me. Rain had started to trickle down, though I hadn't noticed. The ground was muddy, and though I made no effort to stand. Estos was trying to pull me up, and while I gave him a look of shock and confusion, I was unresponsive. How was he handling this? It was his _sister_ after all.

"I volunteer!" Estos immediately turned around, and I peered past the other guys to try and see. Saest was almost up to the stage, but she had stopped dead when someone volunteered. It was a thirteen-year-old girl, her hand raised in the air, pushing her way through the crowd. She looked like she was twelve, and she had semi-short red-blond hair. Saest was staring in shock, remaining in her spot as the peacekeepers abandoned her and led the girl up to the stage, though she was well ahead of them.

The look of shock on Romara's face was indescribable. "What's your name?" She asked, leading the girl over to the microphone with hands on each of her shoulders.

"Neassale Enther," She repeated quickly. Another eighteen-year-old, who I knew from school - Fagav - started pacing around in circles, his hands clamped on his head.

Then I remembered. Fagav Enther. Fagav Enther had a little sister, though I never met her. His little sister had volunteered. I felt terrible for Fagav, but the only thing I could do was whisper to myself, "Thank you. Thank you Neassale Enther."

"And now, the boys," Romara said, trying to keep going while the rain started to pour down. She hustled over to the bowl and quickly grabbed one from the bottom. She was probably just trying to find one that would be dry. She sheltered the piece of paper under her hand, and hunched over it as much as she could while she unfolded it. Her makeup was starting to drip, revealing her eyes more. She leaned in to the mic and quickly said, "Adshywor Tash."

I froze in place, where I sat in the mud. Everyone slowly glanced towards me, even Fagav looking up to me, forgetting the panic for his sister for a few moments. Estos offered me a shaky hand, which I finally accepted. I was soaked and covered in mud, hardly a great impression to make as I walked, slowly and stiffly, up to the stage. I would've gone into the Games with Saest. But if Neassale volunteered, would I still have gone in with Saest? Maybe Romara would've chosen one from the top, or the middle, since there wouldn't have been more time for the rain to soak into those.

Saest was still standing in the spot she was in when Neassale volunteered. I locked eyes with her again, my dark brown hair started to get in my eyes as the rain pelted down. Her blond hair was plastered to her shoulders and face, and she was breathing hard. As I got closer, she ran towards me and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," She said shakily. I said nothing, but before the peacekeepers could get to us, I peeled her off me. My eyes were wide, searching her face to find an escape from the world.

I gave her a kiss on her forehead before I let go of her shaky hands. I had been gripping her so hard that my hands hurt, and I wondered if I had hurt her. I continued up to the stage, every step a challenge, every breath an obstacle. Romara didn't come to lead me, she just waited for me, not wanting to shuffle back through the rain. She had me and Neassale shake hands, and as I looked into her brown eyes, I wondered how many times I'd have to thank her or help her to be even for saving my friend. And if it weren't for the Games, I might try to become more with. I don't know why she did what she did, but she had saved another girl's life. What was that like?

But I realized she was glaring at me. Confusion set in on my face, but Romara was soon hustling us into the Justice Building to get out of the rain. Our shoes squeaked across the floor, and I almost slipped when Romara let go of my shoulder to let me go into my room. "Try not to get water all over the furniture!" She advised us before closing both our doors.

At first, I didn't move from where I stood beside the door. But after about two minutes of staring straight ahead, I stumbled back. I collapsed onto the floor, staying away from the furniture. I wasn't exactly obeying Romara, I just didn't care enough to get up and sit on what would turn into wet velvet. For once, my mind was blank. After a while, the door creaked open, but I didn't look to see who it was. I played with my pant cuff, staring at the soaked shoes in front of me. They walked over, and then squatted down in front of me, and I finally looked up to see Saest. "Hey," She whispered gently, though her voice cracked when she spoke.

"It's not your fault," I replied immediately. She moved and came to sit on the floor beside me. She didn't respond, and she didn't give me any sort of nod. She didn't believe me. Maybe she didn't feel like it was her fault, but just bad for it. Or maybe my speech that morning had gotten into both of our heads. But it's not her fault that Neassale intervened. "Where's Estos?"

"He went to see Neassale first," She explain, brushing my wet hair out of my face. "To thank her for saving me." I pushed myself forward so I was sitting directly beside her. "We're going to trade off, though her family will probably get there before I can." I stayed silent, searching her face. What if I had realized my feelings for her before? Would that have changed whether either of us would get reaped? "I wonder what was going through her head," She continued, trying to fight the silence away. She continued to run her fingers through my tangled hair. She was trying to hide their shaking. Her other hand was clamped in her lap, but I could feel her thumb bouncing against my cheek.

"She didn't volunteer until I was right beside her," Saest commented. "Was she specifically waiting for the right moment? Or...did she see my face and took pity on me for...some...random reason..." She trailed off, choking on her words. "What am I doing?" She whispered.

I took her hands, letting them drop in my lap. I ran my thumb over the back of her hands, scarred and calloused from working in the grain fields. "I could win, you know," I told her, looking down at her hands. "I could try. I could win. I could win for you." I looked up at her, and her eyes were fixed on me. "I will win for you."

Her mouth was open, trying to find something to say. Her eyes even seemed to shake in fear. "Is this just because of the Games...?" She asked, drawing herself away from me.

I shook my head. "While I was waiting to get signed in," I explained. "I was thinking about the Games. How easily I could be affected. I didn't want Estos to get hurt. And then I double checked to realize how much I didn't want you to get hurt."

"You were right," She said with a sigh, pulling herself closer again. "Imagine how much easier our lives could've been if you didn't get reaped. Neassale saved me, and it would've been all ok if you had been saved - or didn't need saving."

"Yeah," I replied. "Until next year. Estos and I would've been safe. You wouldn't be. You still won't be."

She stayed silent. "What are the odds that I'll be drawn twice?" When she finally responded, her voice was pained. "And what are the odds that you'll live?"

"For both...whatever the Capitol wants them to be." I didn't continue, and she didn't respond. My speech from that morning had been on my mind, and clearly it was on hers too. But it hadn't occurred to us that no matter what the real odds were, the Capitol controlled the variables. It wasn't up to fate. People like Neassale are the ones that act on fate. For everything else, the Capitol decides it.

I moved closer to her. How long had I been sitting on my feelings and not knowing it? I had met Estos on our first day of school. I didn't meet Saest until a year later. And then an even bigger question. How many people would I be willing to kill to get back to her and Estos? I leaned towards her, and for a second I thought it would be ok if I didn't live. Because she would. I didn't care if I was going insane anymore. This could easily be the last time I ever saw her. I closed the gap, kissing her. I don't know for how long, but it wasn't enough time before the peacekeepers came to the door, telling us her time was up.

"I'll live," I whispered to her, staying on the ground while she reluctantly got to her feet. She kept her eyes locked on me as she left the room. I suddenly didn't know if I wanted to live or if I wanted to die.


	12. Chapter 11 - District 10 Reaping

**POV District 10 Foemshay Odane**

The polite and distant sound of birds woke me up. I looked out at the sky, and it hit me how late it was. But I stayed where I sat in my bed, playing with my fingers. _"Good morning, Foemshay."_ I always tried to fight my memories. But I had run out of energy just thinking about what the "grand day" of the Reaping would have in store for me. _"Good morning." _Even my own voice in my head sounded so high-pitched I couldn't believe I was ever that young, ever that naïve. _"Where's my mom and dad?"_ I could hear his footsteps come up behind me, I could feel his presence behind me. My hand mindlessly went to my shoulder, checking to see if his hand was really there. _"Morning, Mrs. Elemdy. What brings you here so early?"_

_"Ah, just what I was about to talk to Foemshay about." _Her voice had been pained. How had I not realized the connection between my parents and why she was there? I thought she was just being nice. A neighbor just dropping by on a sunny morning. _"You see, there was a bit of an...unsettling, late last night in the Town Square."_ He was so much more older than me. How had he not known I shouldn't be there? Why couldn't she realize that either? _"Well, you see, there was some retaliation from the peacekeepers...and several people did not last the night. And...that includes my husband and your parents."_

"Stop, Foemshay," I whispered to myself. I forced myself to move, swinging my legs over my bed and forcing myself to my feet. I made a move towards the kitchen, but I could feel a pit in my stomach that froze me back. There was no way I was eating today. I turned away, slipping into one of the rooms. My house was strangely laid out, since I had done rearranging. A large entry room. Served as a living room, kitchen, and bedroom now. I had sold the couch, two of the four kitchen chairs, and I had traded in the original kitchen table for something smaller. I had dragged my bed out into the far left corner, right in front of the TV on a shelf sticking out on a shelf on the wall, eye level from the bed. My old room was left empty, filled with family pictures, mementos, and a lung full of dust.

The three doors to my bedroom, my parents bedroom, and my brother's bedroom are almost completely unnoticeable, lining the left wall. My bedroom - turned into a dungeon of memories - first. Second, my parents bedroom. The bathroom was in a room leading to the bathroom, which was a walled off chunk of mine. I had pulled the mirror next to the dresser, leaving the bathroom almost completely empty. Then there was my brother's bedroom. I had stripped it for everything except the bed frame and it's mattress. And anything on the bedside tables of my parents' bedroom, and all of it had been shoved into my room.

All my clothes had been moved into my mother's dresser. Almost all the clothes in there I had moved into my room, except for some of my mother's nicer clothes. When I made my way into their bedroom and over to the dresser, I was quick to pick out the dress she always wore to the reaping. _"You know, you could wear this dress someday." _I was old enough now to be able to fit into it, though I had cut it short so it would stop a ways below my knees instead of a ways below my toes. _"Though I may be worried that you'll look better in it than I did."_ I hesitated though to take it. _"Never in a million years mom."_

"Stop, Foemshay." Those had long since become my favorite words. After I finally got around to getting myself dressed, I brushed my teeth before going and sitting down in front of the mirror and stand my mother had always done my hair in front of. My hair was a dark brown, though it had blond streaks running through it, just like my father and brother. _"I have to admit, I still miss having mom do my hair."_ But it had begun to decay in my eyes, just as the wood or the un-kept house around me. _"She certainly did a better job than I did." _My eyes were brown, which I, my brother, and my mother had all shared. _"You know, Mrs. Elemdy always says I'm your older twin."_ I tied my hair back in a pony tail, not giving it as much thought as I had planned. It wouldn't be long before we had to go. _"Well she doesn't live with us, we're nothing alike on the inside."_

My gut twisted inside me. It felt like someone had sucked the air out of my lungs, so I couldn't tell myself to stop. "Foemshay? You up?" Someone else did.

"Coming!" I quickly picked myself up, giving a final glance in the mirror and a sniff before running to the door. "Hey, T-" I began, opening the door, though I cut myself short. "...Aramdash."

"Hey," He replied with a heaving sigh, his voice strained.

"Have...have you seen Tonler on your way here?" I asked awkwardly.

His blue eyes dug into me. "No. Am I not a...welcome surprise?"

I looked down at my feet, swallowing hard as my fingers dug into the door. "Well, it's just I had expected to see my boyfriend at my door instead of...well..." It wasn't that the adopted son of my neighbor, Mrs. Elemdy, wasn't welcome. Well, it wasn't me who was unwelcoming. It was everything else. But I didn't understand why he sounded so tightly wound, why ever muscle was rigid in his silhouette.

"Right," He said simply.

"Well," I began after several moments of heart twisting silence. "Last year of the Reaping, huh? You must be ecstatic."

"Yeah well," He answered, fumbling with something in his pocket. "Not as much as you think."

I smiled a force, and pained, smile. "Of course," I told him curtly. He looked up to meet my eyes, looking hurt by response. "Well, no offense to you, but I would...appreciate it if you would...move along." He nodded, his gaze falling to the ground. "I'll see you at the Reapings," I added as he turned and began to leave, slowly and reluctantly.

He looked over his shoulder at me, pausing for a moment. "See you." He turned and continued on his way. Mrs. Elmedy was waiting for him, a ways off, and they continued in the direction of a Town Square when he caught up without turning to look back at me. I heaved a sigh, my gaze drifting towards the fields of cows far off in the distance. I lived on the very far edge of District 10. It would take a long time to get to the center of it, but I couldn't leave without Tonler. _"And...that includes my husband and your parents."_

My breath was driven straight out of me again, and I slammed the door. I still remembered that night. I remember eight-year-old Aramdash Nend, who had only recently moved in with the Elmedys, clinging to his mother's pants leg, hiding behind her swollen, pregnant belly. _"Hey Foemshay!"_ I leaned back against the door, gripping my fingers into the door and dragging them through the wood. _"Hi." _I closed my eyes tight, letting my head fall back onto the door. _"My mother said you can come over, if you want. She said you always came to see some of the things she made for the shop."_ I let my back slide down the door, dragging my fingers down with it. _"Hello Aramdash."_

My feet started drumming on the floor. _"Hi, uh, Jemafy." _I opened my eyes, and peeled my fingers off the door. There were splinters embedded under my finger nails. _"Where's Aramdee? ...Shouldn't you be watching her?"_

"Hey Foemshay! We need to get moving!" This time I recognized Tonler's voice as he pounded on the door, which banged the door into my head.

I jumped to my feet, brushing through my hair again before I opened the door. "Hey Tonler," I greeted him with a smile.

"I am so sorry I'm late," He told me, putting his arm around me and ushering me out the door, closing it behind me. "But we need to go." I followed along beside him, almost jogging. _"And now, for the boys tribute."_ I looked down, starting to pick the splinters out of my fingers again. _"Jemafy Odane."_ I bit back a hiccup of a scream.

"Anything wrong?" Tonler asked, trying to get my attention.

"Just, some splinters."

**-X-X-X-**

"I'll see you afterwards," Tonler said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before he went towards the other District 10 boys roped off in the Town Square.

"Next," I quickly stepped forward, and I bit down hard on my tongue. The holes in my finger from the splinters made the prick on my finger start throbbing as I made my way over.

"Stop, Foemshay," I told myself before I even started thinking. But something started thumping in the back of my head, the anxiety was still there. And as Gebyt Honeyband stepped out onto the stage in a bright yellow, purple, and blue outfit, I wanted to pass out. I tried taking deep breaths through the Dark Days video, but as Gebyt began her regular speech and made her way over to the bowl, my heart was pounding in my stomach. "Stop-"

"Foemshay Odane." My heart was throbbing in my brain now, throbbing in my tongue. I didn't even think about it as I swiftly turned to the side. I marched forward with graceful steps, standing on my tiptoes. I bowed down under the rope, stretching out my arms like a swan. I stopped and waited, looking over my shoulder at the oncoming peacekeepers. And that's when I finally broke.

I tore off through the dirt and straw, and I almost ran right past them. I almost got away. I got past them, I got past the ropes, I got past the tables where we signed in. But I ran straight into a man, who grabbed me by the shoulders and wouldn't let me go. "I'm so sorry," He said to me firmly. "But you'll be better off in the Games than you will on the run." He held me there, turning me to face them with his hands clamped down on my arms. He traded me to the peacekeepers, who had to pick me up by arms since I let my feet drag through the ground.

"And now for the...the um, the boys," Gebyt stumbled, trying to move along and keep attention from me. She ran her fingers around in the bowl until I had been forced up onto the stage, and the peacekeepers didn't leave my side until she had returned. She put an arm over me, delicately, but her fingers dug in my shoulders like knifes. She had to unfold the name with only one hand, though I was scanning the boys for Tonler.

"Tonler Laormech." I had just found his face, as horror set in, but my eyes darted to a face standing one group behind him. _"My name is Aramdash Nend." _He was raising his hand, and Gebyt had made a motion towards him, which stop Tonler. _"But don't you live with the Elmedys?"_

"I volunteer." I could see that he was grinding his teeth. _"Yes, but my family was the Nends. They adopted me after..."_ I watched as Aramdash walked straight past Tonler, without giving him a single glance. _"I like your name anyway."_ When he climbed up the stage beside me, I could see that he was still as tense as he was at my door. But his eyes were still soft, and tears ran silently down his cheeks.

"What's your name?" Gebyt asked, having him lean into the microphone.

"Aramdash Nend." His name started ringing in my head. Gebyt didn't let us shake hands very long, and she quickly had the rest of the _safe_ District 10 citizens before hurrying us into the Justice Building. But I realized that wasn't true. No one was ever safe from the Capitol.

The two of us were separated into rooms where we would say a final goodbye to our friends and family. At first, I thought that I had no one alive that would come for me. Then I remembered Tonler. I pressed my ear up against the door, and for the longest time, I heard nothing. And then there were footsteps, and a young girl's voice, but I couldn't hear Tonler. The door beside my room opened and closed, and I opened my door a crack to see. None of the peacekeepers were paying attention. I slipped out of my own room, tiptoeing across to the other door.

I creaked it open slowly and poked my head in. Aramdash, and who I quickly identified as his little sister, were off in the corner, looking out the window. I slipped in, ice cold anxiety thumping in my veins. I press myself against the wall, slowly moving along towards a fancy dresser - which I had to pray was empty. Aramdash's water-colored eye glanced in my direction, and I froze. "Don't worry, Aramdee, I'm not scared," He said, his eyes still pointed at me, taking his younger sister's hands in his.

I kept my eyes locked on his once I reached the dresser, my fingers searching out the crack of the door and slowly pulling it open. It gave a small creak - not enough to catch Aramdee's attention, but enough to send even piece of muscle tense. Aramdash then picked his sister up, swinging her up into the air. I was impressed. He may be strong, but she was ten, and she wasn't small. Her screaming laughter brought me back into reality, and I quickly turned and darted into the dresser. It was empty, though it would be rather pointless to keep anything in a room like this. The dresser was probably just for decoration.

I could hear a small thump as he set Aramdee on the ground, and I let my back slide down the dresser, pulling my knees up to my chest. I rested my chin on my knees, my eyes exploring the darkened wood as far as they could. I heard the door open again, and I recognized Mrs. Elmedy's voice when she greeted the two of them. I could hear my breath, huffing and puffing against the confines like a horse after riding at full speed. I definitely was from District 10.

I kept myself from prying on their conversation, progressing from fiddling with my shoelaces, to the hem of my dress, to a lock of hair that had come out of the ponytail from my failed escape attempt. I almost started tapping my feet against the wall of the dresser, but I stopped myself right before I did. I didn't want Mrs. Elmedy or Aramdee to hear me. I then focused on my fingers, looking at all the bloody holes left from the splintered wood. Luckily, I had managed to get to all of them, though it was hard to be grateful when they were still throbbing and bright red, painful to the touch. Your fingers touch a lot of things. It wouldn't be a fun day - or a fun rest of my life. Hopefully they would heal before the Games. Maybe the Capitol would have some sort of cream they'd allow me to heal my fingers with. An infection would be much worse, especially if I'd need my hands to handle any kind of weapon.

_"It appears that Jeramfy is taking matters into his own hands."_ It hadn't struck me until now that I'd actually have to wield a weapon. _"It's pretty early to be breaking his alliance, but after their disagreement earlier, it seems he'd prefer to work by his own rules."_ What would I even use? _"I think that's Skeltia he's aiming for."_ I had absolutely no accuracy at all. _"His arrow missed! But it roused up Skeltia."_ So a bow & arrows or using knives as ranged weapons would be ruled out. _"What the hell is wrong with you, Jemafy?!"_

_"If I die, I will not let my sister think I'm just like them!"_ I couldn't imagine being able to swing a sword or an axe, I probably wouldn't be strong enough. But I couldn't possibly think I'd get the chance to use a knife up close. The only thing I could use was a whip, or I could try to rope someone, and even if they had one of those, it would be almost completely pointless. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. The words had stopped, but I hadn't stopped. _"I thought you were better than this, Jemafy."_ I couldn't say anything to stop myself. _"I thought maybe I would die for you."_ They would hear me. _"Well, things did not turn out very well for Jemafy, as the boom of the cannon is not for his teammate."_

"Stop, Foemshay," I whispered, though I started shaking in fear that I had caught anyone's attention.

"Foemshay," Aramdash's voice came. "Foemshay, my mom and Aramdee left. I won't have anymore visitors, you can come out." I stood up slowly, my breath coming heavy as I hesitated with my hand hovering in front of the door. I creaked it open cautiously, peering at him like a mouse. He stared back at me solidly. Where had he got his bravery? I slipped out of the dresser, my muscles still pulled together. "Hey," He said gently, though his face was still firm. I didn't respond. He lifted his chin, looking down at me with a suspicious curiosity. "What are you hiding from?" I crept over to the door, peeking out. No one was there, but when I glanced at the clock in the hallway, we'd probably have to leave for the train soon. "Foeamshay?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him. He had shifted his position. He looked less demanding, and his eyes were gentle with concern. I pursed my lips, my throat tightening. Without a word, I turned back and slipped out the door. I kept my eyes locked on the peacekeepers before I slipped back in my own room. If Tonler had come to see me, they would've discovered me missing. Or Tonler hadn't said anything, just sat down waiting for me. I could almost see him, leaning into the velvet chair, bouncing his foot as he sat with a menacing smile at the door or the window, wondering why and where I had gone. The dresser in my room was open now. I pushed my lips together again. I doubted they would leave it open for me when I first walked in.

"Time to go," A peacekeeper's voice came, causing me to jump before I turned around to face him. I let my gaze drop to the floor, slipping out through the door. Aramdash was already there, waiting for me. Gebyt had returned, hurrying us off. Aramdash kept his face forward, but I could feel him glancing at me. But I bit my tongue and stayed silent. Enough secrets would be spilled in the Games, I didn't need to start the leaking now.


	13. Chapter 12 - District 11 Reaping

**POV District 11 Delmosskelmer Nonyt**

I was sitting on the couch, with my little sister curled up beside me. Her head was slumped against me, completely asleep. I was reading through a paper left on everyone's door in the District, saying there wouldn't be work in the fields on the day of the Reaping - today. They churned these things out every year, but I still read them. I had to turn the page and tilt my head to read the page, trying to see through the light brown strands of hair drifting into my eyes.

I jerked my head as someone started knocking at the door. "Who the hell is that?!" My father screamed. It was quiet, but in the even quieter silence gripping the house - and the fact that the man was always getting drunk while he already had a hangover - it must've stood out to him. I looked over to see my sister, sitting straight up. I could read her eyes, and I always knew that she could read mine. Pure terror was in hers.

I got up, leaving the letter on the couch. I had to sprint to the door, praying the whole way they wouldn't knock again before I got there. When I did swing open the door, the girl there had her fist in the air, about to knock again. "Hey Del," She said, sounding exasperated.

"Hey, Asessu." I gave her a confused, tired look. I hated it when she called me that anyway. She was lucky I didn't use my nickname whenever she called me that, or called my sister by her nickname she gave. I could understand, even though saying someone's first name doesn't make a greeting formal, my name sounds like five full names. "Hey, Delmosskelmer." It would never sound quiet right, but "Del" didn't either.

"I came to help you and Samundirban get ready for the Reaping." I smiled at her. I almost wondered if my father was drunk when he named us too, but I knew that wasn't true. Mom hadn't died yet.

"We're all ready," I said. She gave me a look. "Well, she is, though he hair's a bit messed up because she fell asleep on the couch after I did her hair...and the fact that _I_ did her hair. I'm just going to put on a jacket, you can help her on the way, I don't plan on being too formal."

She smiled at me, and then past me. I turned to see my sister skipping over to us. "So, you guys ready to go?" Asessu asked.

I nodded, but Samundirban's smile turned. "But what about dad?"

"Oh, he'll be following right after us," I said quickly, cutting off Asessu before she could even take a breath. That got me a look from her, but I didn't let it show. "Come on."

Asessu led her out while I grabbed my jacket. I closed the door quietly behind me, and I didn't let the door latch behind me, though I knew that would mean the door wasn't locked. I put it on as we walked, watching as Asessu pulled out a comb from a pocket in her dress and completely redoing the mess I had made. There was a pounding in my head like big drums. My father wasn't coming. Unless I went back for him, there was no way he'd get off his couch. Unless he passed out between now and when peacekeepers game barreling down our door...I couldn't even imagine what would happen to him.

But what would be worse is if he came. I knew he had plans for ruining something. Last time I had tried to cut him off and found him sober, he had gone on and on about how he would save Samundirban, keep her from going into the Reaping. The week before the Reaping, he started smuggling alcohol in our own home, and I gave up. Getting himself drunk enough to block every part of his brain except his plan to overthrow the Capitol single-drunken-handedly.

Once we reached the Town Square, I let Samundirban get signed in before me. I wanted to go back, to save him. But at the same time I knew I'd get in more trouble for ditching the Reaping myself, and no doubt Asessu would want to help me. Then all three of us would get sucked in. There was no going back now. I was throwing my own father under the bus.

"What's wrong?" Asessu asked, noticing my tenseness.

"It's just...it's Samundirban's first Reaping," I lied. I watched after her, but after pausing, I turned back to her. "I'll do anything to protect her. But now I've got three to worry about in these games." Her eyes softened with sympathy. She didn't say anything, but she pulled my towards the desks. When Samundirban moved along towards the twelve-year-old girls. I had to bite my tongue harder. Asessu waved at me before she went to her section. Finally I had shuffled to the front of the line, and I complied to the peacekeeper silently.

Once I got to my spot, the anthem started to play, as if on cue. District 11's escort, Hyjary Canary, came trotting out of the Justice Building. Like her name, she always came out dressed as a bird. This time, she was dressed in teal and black like a blue jay, with a feather covered hat over her matching dyed hair. I watched her throughout the presentation, half-expecting her to fly off once she finished. "And now," She had a voice like a bird too, and I wondered if it was real or not. For all I knew, the Capitol gave her a fake voice. "We'll start with the girls."

She had tall black heals, that made a chirping sound across the stage as she walked over to the bowl. She even began whistling - like this was a happy event - as she picked out a name and squeaked her way back center stage. Her eyes were painted blue, but her irises were black. I wonder if they were supposed to be like a bird's black eyes. Or if her soul had drained out into her "wings". "Asessu Osar."

My heart stopped. My hands clasped over my mouth, tears starting to drip over my hands. I had to stand on my tiptoes to see over the crowd. I could see her making her way through the crowd, her head low, tears dripping off her cheeks. Of course the one time I have two to worry about, one of them gets Reaping. And then My heart was thumping in my throat, my brain vibrating in my head. There was a girl, at the very front, who was slowly raising her hand. I couldn't see who it was, but I had a feeling. I could see the tops and backs of their heads. This girl was two close to a curly-haired blond girl. "I volunteer!"

Asessu stopped dead, and I saw her eyes widening before she turned to the girl. At first, nobody stepped out. Then the peacekeepers got there, ushering Asessu back, though instead of across from me with the seventeen-year-olds, she was with the fifteen-year-olds, where she had stopped. And the girl ducked under the rope and quickly cut across to the stage. I was shaking my head, choking on my breath. She got to the middle of the stage, and turned around. She was far away, how could I know for sure? "What's your name?"

"Samundirban Nonyt."

Well, now I did know. None of the other guys around me gave me a look, they knew exactly what was going on. My _little sister_ had _volunteered_, in _District 11_, for my _girlfriend._ There was too much wrong with that. It would've made more sense if I volunteered for her, and of course I couldn't. "And now, we'll move onto the boys." Hyjary's voice was sickening now. But Samundirban looked brave on the stage, even as she was left completely along while Hyjary picked out the name of the boy who would go up against my little sister. She leaned towards our escort as she undid the name, but instantly looked away, her face growing pale.

My hands dropped. What was she afraid of? Then all my muscles tightened again. No. It wasn't possible. It wasn't. "Delmosskelmer Nonyt." Hyjary said it like a fact. I don't know how long I stood there, staring in horror, before the peacekeepers had to grab my arm and drag me out. I still didn't react, keeping my eyes locked with Samundirban. They had to drag me up, and my gaze only wavered to catch Asessu's eyes as I passed. I was forced to walk up the stage myself, and when I got a shove, I was alive enough to move again. But I locked eyes with Samundirban up on the stage, refusing to look out.

Hyjary had us shake hands. We were telling each other good luck. It wasn't a real handshake, neither of us treated it like that. Samundirban gave my hand a squeeze, trying to comfort me, before she turned back to the crowd. I followed her gaze, only to instinctively find Asessu. Hyjary had to grab me by the shoulder and turn me around by force, but I kept looking back at Asessu, even after the big wooden doors clamped behind me.


	14. Chapter 13 - District 12 Reaping

**POV District 12 Zalnys En'beli**

I tapped my feet impatiently. My mother would kill me, if she had seen how much my hair was messed up. But luckily, I had convinced her and my father go ahead of me. I wanted to knock on the door again, but I also knew it was the worse idea on the face of the planet...though I may be exaggerating, seeing all the other "great ideas". I tried tapping the door with my foot, and at first nothing. Then I heard several sets of feet heading towards the door.

I pressed myself against the house, so the door would swing in front of me, but barely in time before it swung open. After a few moments of silence, I thought I got off the hook. "Zalnys, we know that's you." I was wrong.

I tried saying nothing. But one of them stepped out, and looked immediately to my hiding spot. He peeled back the door, and gave an evil smile at me. "Hello, Zalnys," He sneered, his name rolling off his tongue.

"Artin, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while," I stuttered pathetically. He put a hand on my shoulder, leading me inside.

"Look guys, it's Zalnys!" He proclaimed. One of his brothers, Dilyh was waiting right for me in the doorway. His other, Rhaen, was farther back into their living room, with a big brown and white dog sitting at his feet. They were all a lot older than me - I think last year was their last Reaping even. I smiled, and got down to my knees. The big dog jogged over to me happily. Down on my knees, the dog was eye-level with me.

I gave them all a smile, and they returned it with their smirks. I realized that they were towering over me when I glanced up at Artin. My grin disappeared, and I got to my feet. "Boar must be excited for a new treat."

"I, I have absolutely no idea where you got that name from," I stuttered, trying to keep a smile on. I didn't want to be ganged up on.

The tightness in my chest disappeared once their mother walked in. We all watched her in the kitchen in silence until she turned to look at us. She glanced around at her sons, with a suspicious but kind look, and then her eyes settled on me. "Artin, Dilyh, Rhaen," She warned, and the three of them shared a glance, causing her to smile wider. "Leave your sister's boyfriend alone."

The tightness came right back when their father followed in. "Who's here?" He questioned, though he had a grin on his face that gave away that he had already heard what Mrs. Drysay had said.

"Not you too," She muttered, looking over her shoulder at him. "Adoss! Get out here before the boys hang Zalnys."

All three of her brothers took a step back when Adoss came running out, her brown hair bouncing around her. "What?" Her saw me, and ran up to hug me. The only reason her family wasn't giving me a heart attack was her and her mother sticking up for me. She grabbed my hand when she pulled away, and she gave me a look, though she had a playful smile. She could feel my hand sweating.

"Where's your family, Zalnys?" Mr. Drysay asked, stepping out from the kitchen.

"They left earlier - I got a late start this morning," I explained, my voice tense. I could feel my face making an expression like I was looking down the barrel of a gun.

Once Mrs. Drysay finished up, she led all of us out. Mr. Drysay followed, and then Artin and Dilyh indignantly cut in front of the two of us."Come on, Boar," Rhaen said, gently tugging on the fluffy dog's rope collar. I kept my fingers locked with Adoss, and Rhaen followed us out the door, closing it behind him. Eventually, Boar decided to start jogging, and Rhaen got ahead of us to keep up, leaving the two of us to trail behind.

"Why are you so scared of my family?" Adoss asked, seeing that they were out of range to hear her. I simply shrugged, grinding my teeth. She squeezed my hand, "Well, don't be, ok?"

"I'm not scared of your mother," I pointed out. "But how do you expect me to being ganged up four to one?"

She paused for a moment, before sighing. "My brothers are just obnoxious. And my dad...eh, he can be obnoxious too."

"Hardly," I scoffed.

She gave me a friendly glare. "Just don't give them a reason to kill you, and then they'll just have to deal."

I gave her a look right back. "You can't just go shrugging this off," I remarked. I gave a glance to them, before leaning closer and whispering, "I think being your boyfriend is enough of a reason."

She smiled at me, but then we were gripped by silence as we got to the Town Square. I spotted my parents, but I just grinded my teeth. My mother gently waved at me when she saw me, and I simply nodded. Adoss's family said their simple goodbye's too before leaving us to get in the line. I was right, her older brothers weren't in the Reaping anymore. I glanced at her as she watched them go, studying her face. I wanted to ask if it took any weight off her, knowing her brothers were safe now. But I kept my mouth shut. When she turned back to me, I looked away and lead her to the lines of kids, waiting to get signed into the possibility of death.

Her house was so busy, they seemed to have forgotten the plaguing Reaping coming up. Last year, before I had gotten the courage to ask out Adoss, my family spent the entire day with depressing cloud looming overhead. I remember having a crush on her for as long as I could remember, though we had only been friends for a few months before hand. I don't think I had ever told her.

We got in the same line, each of us refusing to let go of the others hand. As we got closer to the desk, I could feel her fingers start shaking. I turned back to her, and tears started pooling in her eyes. "I don't want to die," She mouthed. Maybe her family forced themselves to forget, seeing how scared she was. I squeezed her hand, though I was at a loss for words. She had always been the brave one - I was even scared of her family. Should I be scared? I turned away, my eyes drifting the ground as I thought things through. I couldn't find it in me to be scared - I didn't know why. It was a solemn, neutral event to me.

"Next," I stepped forward, pulling Adoss along with me, who was trying to dig her feet into the ground. I offered my free hand, and I felt like his eyes were burning into our locked hands. "Go on," He growled after he pricked my finger. I stepped away, but even when I let go, Adoss refused to. I looked at her, but she didn't meet my gaze, giving her free hand to the peacekeeper. "Go," He said, more angry. What had we done to him?

I led her towards the boys and girls, roped apart. I walked her to the fourteen-year-olds, finally forcing her to let go of me before I turned to the fifteen year-olds. I always had my birthday right before the Reaping. A happy event to distract my parents from what was coming up. As I slipped in with the other guys, I began to wonder if my parents were scared. Were Adoss's brothers scared, were her parents? I glanced around, taking all the other kids in. Some shifted back and forth on their feet, some played with their hands or hair, some paced in a tiny circle, some were just trying to hide their shaking hands, and some were tense or gritting their teeth. Was I the only one not scared?

The Anthem began to play, getting everyone to come to a stand still. Ranoy Catden, coming out in skin-tight black clothes, covered by a dark suit, took his place on stage. District 12's escort was considered to be eccentric, even in the Capitol. Always wore dark clothes and had dark hair. He had a lot of tattoos as well, which is why he usually wore sleeves and clothes that went up to his neck. But there was also a tattoo on his cheek, which he tried to cover by draping his hair over his face. He had a deep voice, which wasn't common among the Capitol.

He ran through his introduction and the Dark Days video, and I could almost feel a collective intake of breath as he continued, "First, we will pull a name for the ladies." He stumbled over to the bowl. He had kept a very straight, composed stature on the stage. I wondered if he was drunk or something, but it was hard to tell. He always had a slurred voice - another trait not common in the Capitol. Maybe he was just drunk every time I heard him. He grabbed a name rather quickly before he clopped back over to center stage. He resumed his original stance, and was able to open in very easily. I couldn't be more confused about his state. "Adoss Drysay."

All of my previous thoughts vanished. "Adoss?" I whispered to myself. "My...my Adoss?" When she stepped out of the crowd, ever bone in her back was clenched as she walked stiffly up, surrounded by peacekeepers. I received the eyes of several other kids. They had seen me with her. I pushed my way over to the edge, leaning over the rope, but staying inside the rope. She looked over her shoulder at me, tears collecting heavily in her eyes, but not spilling out onto her cheeks.

She took her spot up beside Ranoy, her view returning to me and locking there. "And now, we'll move onto the guys." I didn't pay him any attention when he swayed as he walked to the bowl, as he snatched a name out like they would swim away from him if he didn't act. I focused on Adoss.

"Be strong," I mouthed. Her eyes widened, panicking more. "Be strong."

She nodded gently, Ranoy returning to her side. "Zalnys En'beli." I froze. There had to be a mistake. They had the wrong Adoss, the wrong Zalnys. This was the wrong district, the wrong year, the wrong month, the wrong hour, anything. My mouth hung open, trying to find something.

The peacekeepers came over to me. "You Zalnys En'beli?" The front one asked. I looked at them, frozen, before nodding very slightly. But he saw it, forcing me to duck under the rope and pulling me along towards the stage. I could see tears shaking in her eyes as I got closer, but I shook my head at her. My mouth was still open, and my eyes were wide. Something wet dripped down my cheeks, and I lifted my fingers to my cheek. I was crying. I didn't realize it even.

The peacekeeper shoved me towards the stairs, and I stumbled up and over to Ranoy. Ranoy had a hand clamped on Adoss's shoulder, and she looked crippled for a moment, hunched over with her eyes shut tight, shaking. I could hear a tiny wail escaping her lips. Ranoy put his other hand on me, turning us toward eachother. I stretched my hand out to her, and Ranoy gave her a gentle shake. She opened her eyes, and followed my arm up to my face. She looked at me a moment, before pursing her lips. She took my hand, and then lifted her hand to my cheek, wiping away the tears. Her eyes burned red, and she squeezed my hand. Though she was broken, she had her determined fire burning in her eyes again.

She hadn't let go of my hand, and instead she pulled me in, kissing me. I could feel the eyes of every single person watching, either here or at a TV, burning into me. Ranoy cleared his throat, and Adoss pulled away. She finally let go of my hand, and it dropped to my side. It was stinging from the pressure she had put on it, and she was holding her hand, which made me realize how hard I was gripping her hand. She gave a sniff as Ranoy finished off, before turning us around and shoving us angrily into the Justice Building. We were crazy, but in truth, how much longer would we have to be crazy?

I finally realized why everyone else was so scared.


	15. Chapter 14 - Danger

**POV Head Gamemaker Mylute Picker**

"Hello," I greeted a woman as I wandered, rather lost, through the mansion. "Do you know where President Lotus is?"

"Ah, yes, Mr. Picker," He eyes drifted up and down, evaluating me. I clutched my clipboard to my chest. "I do believe that he is waiting for you just down the hall, first door on the right. He's glued to his TV, watching the Reapings."

I nodded to her. "Thank you." I quickly turned, briskly following her directions. Every foot step echoed through the expansive building. When I got to the room, the door was creaked open a crack. The lights were dimmed, and when I peaked in, he was exactly where she had said, sitting in a chair in front of his TV. I recognized District 12 as I walked into the room, coming up behind him.

"Hello Mylute," He said, not turning to look at me. "Who exactly have we got? You said you picked them yourself, right?"

"Yes, sir," I replied, drawing closer and leaning on the arm of his chair. "Weren't any real good stories with tied tributes, and District 1's pretty cocky, so I got some tributes that didn't rely on the other. Ludacris Zeffe, very wild, very spirited - is not like other careers. Then Silver Velvet, very by-the-books career, but very strong family ties and very young siblings, has a boyfriend - Cotton Opaque."

"Why didn't you just get Velvet and Opaque? Why'd you bring in Zeffe?" Lotus questioned harshly.

"I anticipated a volunteer to take one of their spots," I defended, though my voice was a lot weaker than his. Lotus shrugged it off. "Then District 2. Arale and Luipos Ulstrad. Brother and sister. Brother, typical career. His sister apparently has refused training. When saying goodbye, his father made him promise to do everything possible to make sure she wins - their father believes he lost his wife due to the Games."

Lotus nodded. "That's better."

"District 3," I continued, keeping my eyes glued to my clipboard. "Did have that many prospects either. I did have a brother and sister pair that would be fitting, but I just had to get that girl in the Games. Moria Kegariss. Very pretty, very sweet, very shy. She lives with just her father, they have an impossibly strong bond. But, I found her the perfect counter act. Eagee Polkimtor, very tough, not afraid of the Games at all. Preys on weakness."

"Well," Lotus pondered over it for a minute. "She better impress."

"Then District 4," I continued along, unfazed. "That is the first District that we got a volunteer. The girl is Poldra Umenvor. The boy was going to be a young boy who she saved from drowning long ago. But Mekyl Clugar volunteered. Poldra is very intense and rather brush-off-ish. Mekyl is very career, very smug, doesn't take much serious. Their opposing forces, and only met the day of the Reaping. I do believe that has something to do with Mekyl's volunteering."

"This already seems more enticing than the drowning boy," Lotus spat, still glued to his screen.

"District 5," I was still more of a growl. "Kaiadra Skeless and Aldmos Sulorad. Aldmos is a loose cannon, and everyone in the District knows it. Kaiadra lost her parents, so she lives with her uncle and cousins. We got a great show at the Reapings if you didn't notice. Checked in, returned her cousins to her uncle, and the head peacekeeper got her into some trouble."

"I saw that," Lotus added. "Better not be the only thing that makes her interesting."

"District 6," My voice was getting tense. "Arda Emc and I'iem Perech. Not a whole lot to I'iem, though he's a guardian-like character. But we got a secret volunteer. I had aimed for Kay Emc, one in a set of triplets. Very strong-headed and brave. But apparently her sister, Arda, took her place, but never got around to saying her real name. We can get her to reveal the truth at the interviews. Arda's siblings, Kay and Bourr, paid a visit to I'iem, seeking protection for her."

"Very interesting," Lotus said, leaning back into his chair, finally giving me a glance.

"District 7," I continued. "Cidet Shyn and Aleas Chemore. Cousins. Both of their fathers have died, Aleas and her mother moved in with Cidet and his. Cidet is very hard on the outside. Aleas is very bright and smart. She knows their real relationship. But I got word from Belm Picker that she may be suicidal."

"Because of going against her cousin?" Lotus asked, and I had his attention.

I nodded. "District 8," I didn't stop there. "Miryp Arhone and Sulsay Honshye. Sulsay has had the biggest crush on Miryp for a long while. Miryp-"

"I recognize the name Arhone." He paused the TV.

I smiled at him. "Yes, her older sisters, Orrine Arhone and Ati Arhone, both past tributes. Obviously, both dead. Miryp had a conspiracy that she and her younger sister Beuv would get reaped and die too. Her parents sent her to live with a former victor, Kallora from the 3rd Quarter Quell."

"Well it seems the third Ms. Arhone will have her worst nightmares come true," Lotus sneered.

"Moving onto District 9." I was picking this up. I was doing better. "Adshywor Tash, and another volunteer. It was going to be Saest Voif, a long-term friend of his, but a girl named Neassale Enther volunteered for him. Neassale's intentions are unclear, but we know she lost her parents, and lives only with her uncle and older brother. Its also known that there is romance between Adshywor and Saest."

"It would've been better if Ms. Enther didn't volunteer, but it'll be fun to discover her intentions, won't it?" It they had been second, he probably would've reacted differently.

"Then District 10, this is a good one," I added, giving him a glance and a smile before. "Foemshay Odane and Aramdash Nend. Aramdash volunteered for Foemshay's long-term boyfriend, Tonler Laormech. Foemshay's parents died, and her brother Jemafy Odane was a previous tribute - obviously he wasn't a victor either. Aramdash was a adopted, lives with his adoptive mother and her biological daughter and his younger sister, Aramdee. His adoptive father was killed at the same massacre her parents were killed in. He's been a neighbor and friend. Foemshay lives completely on her own."

Lotus nodded, not even saying anything for several moments, after starting the Reapings again and pausing once more after a minute or two. "Interesting." It sounded more like he was loosing interest.

"District 11," I went on quickly. "Delmosskelmer and Samundirban Nonyt. Delmosskelmer's girlfriend, Asessu Osdar, was reaped, but Samundirban volunteered. They have a strong bond, their mother died long ago, and he's been forced to raise her. Their father is a drunk, and he allegedly didn't report to the Reaping. He was found 100% drunk in their home, any punishment hasn't been decided."

Lotus nodded, and I didn't wait for him to respond. "And then the reaping your watching, District 12. Zalnys En'beli and his girlfriend Adoss Drysay. Zalnys lives with his parents, Adoss lives with her three older brothers and parents."

"That's what I've been waiting for," Lotus cut in. He grabbed my chin, pointing my head up to the TV. "Let's watch the end of it." He began playing it again. Zalnys and Adoss were on the stage, Ranoy Catden, the escort behind them, and they were shaking hands. I watched as Adoss lifted her hand to his cheek, and after a couple more moments, pulled him in for a kiss. Lotus's surprisingly long finger nails dug into the skin on my chin. When they pulled apart, he stopped it again. He finally let go of my jaw, and sat slowly back into his chair. "Riveting, no?"

I looked at him. His eyes were flaming, and his semi-smile was intense and stiff. "Yes."

"I thought I asked for the two Mellark children," Lotus continued, his eyes locked on me, leaving me frozen.

"Yes, you did sir," I melted a bit, shifting so I could get in his face. "But do you remember how Snow kept the rebellion from getting out of hand?" I had lowered my voice, and I could hear Lotus's breath coming out shakily and forcefully. He was furious as ever. "He ignored them. Reaping in their children, you'll be giving in. Don't give in. These two will be just as good. They'll be playing the real star-crossed lovers bit. And they'll both die."

"They better," Lotus snarled.

"I'm a smarter gamemaker than Mr. Crane," I said, sitting back.

"You're also much younger and inexperience," Lotus replied. "This better go exactly according to plan. I was fine with your brother making it to escort, what I don't trust is letting head gamemaker fall to you. See that you prove me wrong."

I nodded. Then Lotus motioned for the door. I kept my eyes locked on his, and his fluorescent pink-purple eyes burned right back. I only turned to make a hasty exit out the door. My uncle had gotten me in a whole lot. I had never appreciated how hard it is until now. There was a hidden truth about it. The head gamemaker was in just as much danger as every single tribute in his game.


	16. Chapter 15 - Train Rides & Outbursts

**POV District 1 Ludacris Zeffe**

Silver and I were escorted onto the train by Himons, cameras catching a glimpse of us as he tried to move us along. Silver ignored the cameras, though she had a smile on her face as she followed Himons. I waved at the cameras, and I knew how smug I looked as I smiled. Himons ended up shoving me on the train, and I turned to give him a playful glare for them to see. Himons got on, and I gave a final wave before the doors closed behind him. "It's like they get more and more cameras every year," He complained, straightening out his clothes.

I stared out the window on the door for a few heartbeats. "That was fun," I proclaimed, before following Silver and Himons further into the car. The car had a bright red-magenta theme, and the full luxuries of every District was crammed into just this one car. All the fancy furniture, the nice food, and the train it's self. It showed Distrit 1, all the food Districts, District 3, District 5, District 6, District 7. It was very interesting how heavily we relied on eachother, just to feed the Capitol's demands. District 1 is probably the nicest of the Districts, but the Capitol still gets way more luxury than we do.

"I'll go find your mentors and send them in here," Himons said, looking around. "They're on the train already. Help yourselves while I'm gone!"

I looked at the strange foods packed up in fancy jars, and decided against them. Silver, on the other hand, started rummaging through different colored nuts and chips. She opened one bottle of something, but gave it a sniff and immediately closed it. Probably alcohol. "Who do you think we'll get as mentors?"

She shrugged. "No idea," She said with a mouth full of food. She took a big swallow before saying, "That stage was packed with mentors. One of us wins, we won't have enough room for all the victors."

"Then they'll just get rid of the oldest one, they've done it before," I replied, falling back onto a couch. One of the doors to the train car opened, and Silver immediately dropped her search and stumbled over and fell onto the couch beside me. A pair of girls filed in, falling back into the couch in front of us. The one in front of Silver was the winner of the 99th, but I couldn't remember her name. The other in front of me didn't look a whole lot older.

"Hey," The girl in front of Silver began. "My name is Exquisite Cryck, and I won the 99th Hunger Games at age seventeen."

"I'm seventeen!" Silver exclaimed, finally not overflowing with snacks in her mouth.

"And I'm Glory Tolk," The girl in front of me continued, ignoring her. "I won the 90th Hunger Games at age fourteen. I will be your mentor," She said, pointing to me.

"And I'll be yours," Exquisite finished, motioning to Silver.

We both nodded. "I'll kind of be mentoring Exquisite at being a mentor at the same time, so," Glory added. "Anyways, we have a tight schedule for the two of you. We'll show you to your rooms, you can mess around there for a while, we'll have dinner, then we're going to watch the Reapings after dinner. We want you to get to sleep as early as you can, so we can get started right away at breakfast." She counted through everything on her fingers, Exquisite watching her and softly nodding.

Having Glory as a mentor gave me a bit better chances than Silver and Exquisite, since she was so inexperienced. Glory stood up, and looked at us when we didn't. "Did I just say we were going to show you your rooms? Let's move it!" She had a kind voice, so it was hard to feel threatened, even though we all did as she told. "Come on," She headed off in the opposite direction the two had come from.

Glory stopped abruptly in front of the first door on the right, and I ran into her back. She looked at me sternly, and I realized she was also giving a look at Silver and Exquisite, who had bumped into each other and were giggling. "This is your room, Ludacris," She informed. "Mine is the first on the left, Silver, yours is the next one on the right, and Exquisite's is the second on the left." We all nodded. "The next cart on is the dining cart. Go there at about 6."

She continued on a ways, stopping at her door. She watched as Silver and Exquisite filed on to their rooms. She turned back, seeing I was still there, and I ducked into my room. I stood right beside my door for a moment. I almost wished the schedule was tighter. I slowly wandered around my room, staring at the ceiling in front of me. I mean, the moving room was just fine, and I didn't have anything against exploring and pressing every single button they had in the entire thing, but I liked having something to do. I never liked having time to myself. Last time I had free time, I had carved a paper weight.

I had a lot of materials at my disposal in here though.

**POV District 8 Sulsay Honshye**

I wandered down the hall of the train car. I didn't exactly know where the diner car was, but I knew I was about ten minutes late. When I opened the door to the next door, I peered in the window before opening the door. Mortanny, Miryp, and our mentors - Still Perhon and Ineran Alever, were already sitting down. They all turned their heads to look at me, not saying a word. I bit my tongue, quickly slipping into an empty chair on the end of a table. Ineran was my mentor, though he seemed to be showing more interested in Miryp. Of course since she lived with his girlfriend, I couldn't really blame him.

"Well, hello Sulsay," Mortanny greeted, though he was clearly upset that I had been so late. I didn't really understand why all the escorts had a huge deal with being on time.

"Hi." Still was mumbling to himself, pushing the food around on his plate. Ineran was staying extremely silent, keeping an eye on Miryp. It was several minutes of dead silence, of him glancing up at her, before I realized anything. I could see her fork shaking in her hand. I could hear her foot tap the ground and her knee hit the table every so often, giving it away that she was bouncing her leg. She kept glancing out the window, and almost as soon as she did she would dart back to her food. She hadn't eaten anything either.

"We're going to watch the Reapings once everyone's finished," Ineran mentioned eventually, leaning back into his chair.

"Finally someone gets it." I don't know if Mortanny was talking about his schedule or speaking. Mortanny wouldn't understand what we're going through, being from the Capitol. But after however many years he had spent with solemn District 8 tributes, he would understand our reluctance on the latter.

"It's that a...career thing to do?" I asked after a few moments of hesitation.

Ineran shrugged. "Not unless you plan on going as in-depth as they do with their evaluations."

"What do you mean?" Miryp piped in.

"Well," Ineran began, putting his hands behind his head. "We're pretty much just watching them to get a look at the other tributes and look for any possible alliances, I heard that we're going to need them more than ever this year."

"Why?" I pestered.

Ineran gave me a look, upset that I had interrupted him. "I don't know, I just know that if you end up on your own, you're pretty much dead. Anyways," He continued quickly, not wanting to be interrupted again. "The careers...well..."

**POV District 1 Ludacris Zeffe**

"The other careers for this year are: seventeen-year-old Luipos Ulstrad and twelve-year-old Arale Ulstrad from District 2 and sixteen-year-old Mekyl Clugar and sixteen-year-old Poldra Umenvor from District 4," Glory informed. Himons, Exquisite, Silver, and I were sitting on the couch as Glory paced in front of the TV after we had finished the Reapings. "Luipos and Arale are siblings. We don't know how District 4 will react to a twelve-year-old, and word is she has refused to train, so they could be a wild card. But my suggestion is that you welcome her, because if you get Arale, you get Luipos. And Luipos is a very valuable asset."

"She hasn't trained?" Silver clarified.

Glory nodded, but quickly moved on. "We will try to set up alliances with other tributes, just in case there's any complications. District 3 Eagee Polkimtor seems like a good choice. Completely unafraid of the Games and _extremely_ intelligent."

"What about that other girl, Moria?" I pointed out.

Glory stopped dead in front of me, turning on her heels to look me in the eye. "Not worth it."

"...What do you mean?"

"Eagee has _no intentions _of allying with Moria. She's very weak-hearted and timid anyway. She has no value to you at all - not even a high-risk target," Glory explained. She then continued on with her pacing. "We do have some high-risk targets. Aldmos Sulorad from District 5. Eighteen, medium build, but has very little control. He's known for being unstable. He could easily go crazy, and crazy tributes are always underestimated - _do not_ make that mistake. I'iem Perech from District 6. Eighteen, very sweet, but extremely protective and strong. If he gets a strong alliance, he will be dangerous."

Glory barely stopped to take a breath, marching across the small room. "Cidet Shyn and Aleas Chemore from District 7. Eighteen and fifteen. Cousins, a rocky relationship, but Cidet is extremely strong and rough. He could be dangerous if he gets a big alliance or a stronger relationship with his younger cousin, who is extremely smart."

"Is that all?" I asked, and Glory took another look at me.

"We're one day in. This is all I know. If you want anything else, arrange it for yourself," She snarled, before marching out. Silver, Exquisite, and I shared a look.

"Well," Himons said, clearly overwhelmed. "That's enough for the night." As he headed out, he motioned for us to follow. I let Silver and Exquisite go before I followed. I would have to apologize to Glory in the morning...if she would accept it. I thought back to the pretty girl I had seen. What she from District 9? 8? Her name started with an M...her last name was familiar. I wondered if she would be worth investigating. Some of the tributes were really underestimated. But she looked so nervous, and she didn't have a strong build.

I did have a bit more respect for Glory taking all this on her own.


	17. Chapter 16 - Bits & Pieces

**POV District 12 Zalnys En'beli**

I woke up to a knock on my door. I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes. "Who is it? Adoss?" The door pushed open, and I was surprised at who I saw. It wasn't Adoss, it was her mentor, Katniss Mellark. I moved to get out of bed, assuming she was coming to wake me up. But instead she walked in silently and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room, so I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hi Katniss...where's Peeta?" She was playing with her finger nails, though she kept her eyes on me.

"Still asleep," She responded, her voice rough. She was either sick or she had been having a rough day - though I wouldn't blame her for the latter. Every year both her and her husband were forced to leave their children behind so she can personally get to know the people that would be dying. I quickly shoved the thought out of my mind. Because whenever I thought about that, I would soon think about how Adoss and I would probably be one of them.

"I don't mean to be rude," I hesitated for a second, biting my lip before I continued, "but why are you here?"

She didn't smile. "I needed to talk to you, and since I am not really your mentor, this is the only opportunity I could find," She explained.

I nodded, though my fingers were digging into the side of the bed and pursed my lips together. "What about?" I finally asked after several moments of tense silence.

She didn't respond right away. She was tapping her foot, like she was pondering it. Put when she stopped, she had a determined look on her face, and leaned forward. "I needed to talk to you about this star-crossed lover's bit."

I grinded my teeth, looking away from her and out the window. I brushed my tangled black hair out of my eyes, staying silent for about a minute. When I finally turned back, I could see the affect my expression had on her, "It's not a bit."

"Zalnys," She groaned. "I don't mean to be rude either, but there is no way the two of you will win like this. President Lotus is too smart to fall into the same trap President Snow did."

I shook my head as soon as she started speaking. "You don't get it," I growled. I slipped down onto the floor, and she immediately stood up too. "Its not a bit. We're really together, we didn't make this up for the Games for anything." I locked my eyes with hers, walking towards her. "We're not trying to go back together - we're not trying to go back at all."

"But-"

"Now we haven't said it," I cut her off. "But I think we'd both rather die than go home alone. I know I would, and apparently I'm more 'ok' with this Hunger Games deal than her, so, don't waste your words on me." I had made it clear to her what I meant. I kept my eyes on her as she turned and walked slowly out, defeated. Once the door closed behind her, my hands formed into fists and I turned and slammed my foot and fist into the wall. They stung, and I had dented the wood on the inside of the metal wall. Grinding my teeth the entire time, I got ready for breakfast in the dining car. But I slipped down the hallway the opposite way, and into Adoss's room.

She jerked awake as the door slide open, and I stood frozen there while her look of horror slowly faded. "We're not even in the games yet," I commented, holding my hands behind my back as I crept in. Her hair was tangled around her head, and I could see her shaking all of the sheets. She didn't say anything, and I slipped over the board at the foot of the bed. "You can calm down until we are, you know." I looked over my shoulder at her, and she was slowly shaking her head.

"N-no," She protested, propping herself up. I turned back to the door, biting my lip and kicking my feet through the air. In all honesty, I didn't know how she felt about going home. I didn't want to. All I had there would be my parents, and I had never been extremely close to them. She had her parents, her brothers, her dog. I had never seen a tighter family bond. My thoughts drifted to old Boar. I could see him sitting at the door to her bedroom, or out back where she always would feed him when her brothers came back with food from either the Black Market or out in the woods. Sitting there, waiting for her. Wondering where she was, or where she went. Wondering why she left him there.

I turned back to her. "You go get ready. I'll wait for you here, we can go to breakfast together." She looked like she wanted to say more, but after a few moments she just moved her messy brown hair out of her face and got up. She grabbed a random bunch of clothes out of one of the drawers and hustled to the bathroom. I looked after her once the door had closed, biting harder into my lip. What if she did want to go home?

The door opened, and I jerked around to be Peeta standing in the doorway. He took a glance around the room before his eyes rested on me again. "Adoss?" He asked, looking at me with an expression that made him look more concerned than curious. Did he think I let her jump out a window or drown herself in the sink?

"Shower," I replied, narrowing my eyes at him. I wondered if he was the one to put up Katniss to what she said to me. I knew she would've had some concerns about it, but she doesn't seem like the kind of person to get involved with things. He nodded, giving another quick scope of the room before disappearing into the hallway, the door hissing to a close behind him. I glared after him for a while, until the thought hit me. What if he or Katniss had the same talk with Adoss?

**POV District 7 Aleas Chemore**

I had a pillow pulled over my head. The sheets were tossed wildly over the bed, with the covers only covering my back, waist, and left leg. The knocking on my door became more frantic, and I sunk my fingers into the pillow more, pulling in tighter onto the back of my head and pushing my face into the mattress. "Aleas?" It was very easy to identify Belm's Capitol accent. "Aleas! Aleas, answer me!" He shouted, pounding harder on the door.

The only thought that came to mind is if anyone else would hear him. I knew Cidet and our mentors, Kykuta Radnd and Ony Seon, had already gone to the dining card. The thick metal casings and rushing winds of the train probably hid his screaming. I pressed my forehead further into the mattress, pulling my chin up so I could breath in the tiny space left under my chest. I was panting - I hadn't realized how long I had kept myself under the pillow, and I could see my curly blond hair blowing from my breath, tickling my lips and cheeks.

"Aleas, please!" He shouted again. It came to mind, but never as an option - actually getting up and answering the door. I strained my neck to look at the clock sitting on the bedside table. It was really late, for getting to breakfast on time. I turned my head back, letting out a sigh of relief when some of the tension in my back released. I could feel my shirt pulled up around my chest, and I had a soft grey jacket on that I had found in the drawers. The sleeves were pulled up to my shoulders, and the back of my jacket was sitting above the sheets. It felt like the denim pants I had dug out of the back were starting to get tighter and tighter. I had slept in the same clothes all night, and I had no intention of changing them, even for the Opening Ceremony that was looming over my shoulders as we edged closer and closer towards the Capitol.

I could hear the door slide open, and my breath got caught in my throat as silence suddenly gripped the air except for the extremely soft sound of the land rushing by. He must've opened it by accident. My hands had turned to fists, pressing into the soft pillow as I had it pulled even tight down on my head. My shoulders had started shaking from the pressure I had put myself under, trying to lift up against my own strength so I could breath the warm, used air trapped between the mattress and my torso. I made a strangled choking noise as I tried to release the oxygen caught in a knot below my chin.

His pounding feet instantly flew at me, and as soon as I collapsed my breathing cave, hands clasped around my wrists. Belm wretched me up, and I had to twist my legs around to keep him from breaking my spine. The hood on my jacket was flung over my head, my golden hair spilled out, tangled in my tank top straps and the hood. my breath was coming fast, from the sudden attack. I slowly opened my eyes, which I had closed tightly, to focus my eyes on his painted, Capitol face. His bright blue eyes were almost blinding, and his black hair was wrapped around his face. His shoulders caught my attention, vibrating gently against the brown cabinets behind him.

"What?" I breathed, my eyes narrowing at him. He looked from me to the bed, and the pillow that had been flung aside. I had made an impression into the sheets, and the only un-dented spot was where I had made an air pocket. I looked past him in the mirror, and I could see the red marks on my neck from where I had pressed my chin into my skin.

"I thought..." He mumbled, searching my face as he stumbled over his words. "you were trying to..."

"To what?" I snapped, yanking my hands back from him. His hands fell onto the edge of the bed, and he leaned forward to steady himself. I fell back, feeling like he was menacingly looming over me.

"Trying to kill yourself," He admitted, looking away from me. He looked ashamed almost. He had a loose-fitting grey-stripped white shirt. I had anticipated to see him wearing some sort of jacket, but judging by the state of his hair, and how one eye was blackened with make-up and the other wasn't, he had decided to attend to me before he had finished getting ready.

I narrowed my eyes at him again, looking over him. I pursed my lips, propping myself up a bit like I was trying to slip away from him, though my legs were trapped in a tourniquet of bed sheets. My hair and hood obscured my view, but I could see him through the jungle and cave my face was hiding in. "Why do you care?" I snarled at him.

"Well," His voice sounded strangled, and he let out a shaky breath. "I'll admit to being a typical Capitol-ite - I actually _feel_ for the tributes."

"How is that true!" I screamed, instantly shooting up so I got close to his face. "Do you realize we don't just leave the TV show and return to our lives somewhere else where all the loosing tributes live, right? We actually _die!_" I was breathing heavily in his face, shifting some of the hair on his face. I had lowered my chin to give him a menacing stare, my jaw hanging open like I was baring my teeth at him. "That means we're dead. Dead," I repeated, grinding my teeth together while I added on.

He nodded, wordless for a moment. "I know."

"This is only you're third year," I huffed at him, falling back onto my elbows again. "Even the escorts that have been doing this for twenty years don't completely acknowledge that we're gong to die."

Belm didn't respond at first, leaning back from the bed and standing wobbly on his feet. He just watched me, studying me like I was an unknown animal. Trying to determine my intentions. Trying to predict my next move. Trying to understand what I saw compared to what he saw. I shifted my feet, pulling back and sitting up again. I slouched over a bit, moving my gaze from him down at my feet as I gently started untangling them. "I've never been on to follow others." I glanced up at him when he finally spoke. His eyes were gentle now, but their bright color still held my gaze intensely. It was a bit terrifying. "I'm going to finish getting ready. I can meet you outside your door once you are too."

He turned and walked back to the door. His fists were clenched, and I saw black boots tied all the way up to his knees, the end of the boots hidden by the fluffly cuffs on his pants. His pants were a pale denim, showing every muscle in his legs, and I wondered how he could bend his knees. The end had fluffy white boa-like strips banded around, which was a little bit more than eccentric in my eyes. My family didn't even have a duster that looked like that. "Get ready for what?" I called after him right before he left. He turned back, his lips pressed together, frustrated. I smiled a bit as the door closed behind him.

Once I head the faint sound of the door to his room closing, I shifted my legs and was relieved to be released from them. There were red marks on my arms and ankles from the bed sheets, and my nails were chipped and broken. I slipped to the ground, and I didn't even bother looking in the mirror. It barely passed my mind that if I could hear Belm's door, he could probably hear mine. But it didn't stop me from leaving. I wasn't even wearing shoes, and my hood was still in my face. As soon as the door closed behind me, I realized I had absolutely no plan.

I leaned back against the door, bent at an awkward angle. I didn't really know why I was actually waiting for Belm. But I didn't want to give Cidet the satisfaction of me walking in alone, while he sat scheming with Kykuta and Ony. I wondered what they were saying. Would he be telling Kykuta to try and screw me over? He could simply be trying to win over the mentors, so they'd give him any sponsor gifts we were receive. Though they would probably be wasted on me. My neck got sore, bending against the door as I looked at the bottom of the wall in front of me.

I craned my neck to the side when I heard the door slide open to the left of me, at the very far end of the car. When he turned towards me, to head to the dining cart, his eyes fell on me and he looked a bit surprised. He must've heard the door and assumed I had gone on without him. His black hair was curled up, like a bird. Now both of his eyes were outlined with black makeup, as if his eyes needed any more emphasis. He had put on a jacket, like I had predicted. It was a shiny black leather, with small, matching leather wing-like decorations bouncing off his shoulders.

"Hello," He chimed, coming to a stop beside me. His face was sullen, more tired-looking than it had when he had about ten minutes ago. I nodded to him, reluctantly pushing myself off the door, my arms crossed over my chest. I followed beside him, my chin lowered with my eyes to the floor. I caught Belm glancing at me, and I followed his gaze silently to my bare feet trudging across the short-cut red carpet. He kind of smelled like pine trees, and when I blinked my eyes closed, I almost felt like I was home. That I was shuffling through the grass, not the carpet on a train. I was rather disappointed when I opened my eyes back to my nightmare.

I glanced over at him. He wasn't a whole lot taller than me, and though it looked like he had really long legs. Something caught my eye on the side of his face, and I turned my head gently to peer at him through my hair. He had black earrings - in the shape of a horse. They looked like they were solid gems, though of course I wouldn't know what they would actually be. A District 1 fifteen-year-old girl probably would. A District 7 one would probably only be able to tell what kinds of woods things were.

Once we reached the door to the dining car, I grabbed Belm's hand and stopped. He stopped just in front of me, turning to look at my hand that was clamping down more and more, and up to my face, though I was looking straight past him at the door. He turned away from me, peering through the window. He then ducked down when he turned back to me, out of view from the window in the door. He wrenched his hand away, though his expression was still gentle. He pulled my hood down, and couldn't hold back a face as he looked at my hair.

I bit my lip, glancing away from his eyes. He instantly looked like he was filled to the brim with shame, softly pulling the jacket hood up over my head again. He then tucked my hair to the sides of my face. "Looking innocent can work for you," He mumbled, studying me. That comment took me aback. I knew I would be told how to act - at the Opening Ceremony, during training, at the interviews with Archimedes Teal - but I never thought I'd have to act a certain way to appeal to my own kin.

Belm turned back to the door, glancing at me for a moment when he took my hand again. I had to check to see if he had done it out of kindness, or to make sure I didn't run away. But I couldn't see his face, so I couldn't tell. I could feel his hand shift up with his shoulders as he took a deep breath in, and I took a look at him. "What?" He asked, catching my eyes.

I shrugged. "I'm just afraid you're going to fly away."

He made a face at me. "Like you should be the one giving fashion advice." As the door shifted open and we walked into the dining cart, I wondered which one of us would look the weirdest. Belm, in his strange sense of style, or me in the same clothes I had worn since yesterday evening, with no shoes and a messy hair contained by a jacket hood. And as soon as we did come in, hand in hand, Cidet locked dark green eyes on me like he was looking through a gun sight. Belm had to pull me forward again, setting me down in a chair beside him. I kept my head down, my hands in my lap, my broken nails digging into my palms.

As Belm picked up the conversation with Kykuta and Ony that Cidet had dropped once we entered, and he tried to get me to speak up, they all continued to dig into their breakfast. I didn't even touch my silverware, looking down at my foot blankly. I caught Belm with a glare at one point, where he kept glancing at my plate to see if I was eating. When he met my gaze, he quickly turned his dyed eyes away. But I didn't brake my glare until I traded it from him to Cidet, who was staring right back at me. I couldn't read his face. He was looking at me with both confusion, curiosity, and frustration. I was expecting hatred, which I had mistaken for so long.

"Well," Kykuta's voice suddenly decided to catch my attention. "We have the Opening Ceremony tonight. You're going to meet with your stylists and prep teams today. Now this may be difficult for the two of you," She eyed Cidet, and once again I wondered what the two of them had learned about him during the time I was hiding under my pillow. "But mark my words, it will be better for everyone if you don't fight them."


	18. Chapter 17 - The Opening Ceremony

**POV District 1 Silver Velvet**

The pain in my body was finally starting to numb away, but it was taking everything in me to keep from scratching the outfit off. I shifted, standing beside Ludacris while we headed down the elevators towards the city level. Himons, Glory, Exquisite, and our two stylists - Redyn and Galla. I clenched my jaw for a moment, thinking of my stylist. Redyn had red-orange tinted skin and bright, red-orange, curly hair. She had bright blue - obviously also fake - eyes, and tattoos around her eyes. I still had paranoia that she would try to do that to me. Though I remained rather untouched, I was sore from everything my pep team had put me through. If Ludacris felt the same, he wasn't showing it, and he wasn't looking at me. I wondered how the tributes that didn't take as good care of themselves, like District 7, 9, 11, or 12, were faring.

I had to question what Redyn and Galla's idea was. District 1 was luxury. Somehow they had translated that into dressing us up in clothes that were even ridiculous to Capitol standards - I hoped as much. I was wearing a skin-tight lace dress, and I still had my arms crossed over my chest incase the white undershirt I was wearing was see-through. The skirt thankfully wasn't as tight, made of a couple layers of sheer fabric. My blond hair had been brushed for almost an hour, then curled, and finally pulled back in a ponytail high enough so the end of my hair barely tickled my shoulders.

Ludacris simply had a suit, though it was the same color scheme with diamond buttons. His blond hair was slicked back, and he refused to meet my eyes. Every time I would look at him, I would almost have a heart attack when I caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were a bright, artificial gold, and though he had those at the Reaping, I now kept thinking that he had allowed his prep team to change his eyes for the Opening Ceremony.

The color scheme was all the gems and stones they could think of. The base was white, for diamonds. A deep red for garnet, a dark purple for amethyst, a pale blue for aquamarine, a teal for emerald, a silver for pearls, a hot pink for ruby, a yellow-green for peridot, a dark blue for sapphire, a pink for tourmaline, an orange for topaz, and a silver-blue for turquoise. It wasn't made like a rainbow - the colors were randomly wrapped around on my dress, like they were pooled on the brim and spilled over causing undefined lines down the fabric. For Ludacris's suit, it looked like someone had randomly spilled and splattered all the colors onto the white. I bit my lip, wondering what my family back home would think of this.

What all the sponsors would think about this.

**POV District 2 Luipos Ulstrad**

I ran my fingers through Arale's black hair, which had been brushed, straightened, and curled around her left shoulder. I could see her eyes were wide, reflecting in the metal doors of the elevator. I didn't look at myself, keeping my eyes down on her. I already knew what I looked like. I was wearing a dark grey suit with black flecks, and a grey shirt underneath. There was a pickaxe outlined on the back of the jacket, and blocks of stone all the way down my sleeves. My own black hair was slicked back, though there were strands that had been moved to curl over the right half of my face, resting beside my eye and the ends pricking my cheek.

I was still muttering to myself about Arale's ears being pierced. She said it hadn't hurt any more than pricking her finger at the Reaping, but I wasn't concerned about that. I was concerned about the new wounds being exposed to the radioactive and natural elements of District 13 within a week. She had a black dress, with white flecks to look like marble. District 2 was Masonry, but marble wasn't one of the more commons things to be found. Her eyes glittered with black and grey make-up, and Arale had been making jokes that my blue eyes were outlined just the same.

The elevator slid to a stop, and I finally forced myself to look up from my little sister to the door. I glared at myself in the door, though my expression faded just a bit as my reflection slid away with the metal as it opened. I put my arm over Arale's shoulders, and I had to push her a bit as I ushered out of the elevator. The Hunger Games was supposed to be my opportunity. Not for my father to change all my knowledge and then tell me to die for my little sister.

"Hello," my stylist, Thertin, greeted me, with Arale's stylist Issi beside him. I gave her a glare, and she instantly looked back to Arale, bent down to fiddle with her hair again.

**POV District 3 Moria Kegariss**

I trailed out of the elevator after Eagee, picking at my gold and black painted finger nails. I glanced around at the other tributes, trickling out of their own elevators, meeting with their stylists and mentors, and then down at myself. District 3 was technology, so this year I was glad to find there weren't any light bulbs that were directly placed on either of our clothes. My dress was dark grey, puffing out at the skirt which cut off just above my knees. Strands of yellow and gold were pained over it, looking like the designs in a circuit board. My rough, dark brown hair, had somehow been tamed and pulled back into a ponytail. There were gears dangling down from the bow in my hair, and on the left side of my head. I remembered the dark makeup around my brown eyes, and the tiny outlines of gears were painted around my eyes along with more gold lines.

Eagee had a tight black shirt, which had sprinkles of gold piled up on his shoulders and running down his back, densest at the top and spreading out at the bottom. The sleeves had been cut off, replaced by black - with specks of gold - lace. His strawberry blond hair was brushed and fluffed, and his clothes covered up his neck. When he turned back to glance at me, shoving me towards our two stylists, Mosmore and Chatkin, I noticed the District 3 seal on his shoulder, and the Capitol seal right below it.

"You look beautiful," Mosmore chirped, both her and Chatkin looking me over. I felt like a display or their dinner, and I looked at Eagee with pure panic. He just gave me a menacing smile and went back to scoping out the other tributes.

**POV District 4 Poldra Umenvor**

"You ready?" I asked, turning to look at Mekyl. His already broad smiled widened, and he nodded.

He had skin-tight clothes, that were different shades of blue. I was almost transported home when I looked at him, I had to admit, they had done a good job capturing the look of the ocean. When he pulled his hands out from behind his back, I was surprised. His sleeves thinned out, and the blue waves transferred to his arms, and I couldn't tell where the fabric ended. I looked up to his face, and I realized his eyes were a different color. I had remembered they were brown, but now they were a teal blue-green, and his eyes were painted to be fish of the same color. The sides of his head had the black hair cut short, forming a choppy black fin on his head. He had a cape draping down his back, which looked like fishnets when you start to pull them out of the water, loaded with fish that were barely visible as they pressed towards the bottom. "Are you?" He asked, his expression softening.

I nodded turning away. I had let my stylist, Fenux, make some permanent changes to my appearance, same as Zujevi had done to Mekyl. My long, light blond hair had been dyed white, the tips a light pink. My eyes had been left the same blue, but they had been turned into pink fish, just like Mekyl. My face, neck, shoulders, and arms had been tattooed heavily to look like the sunset. My dress was blue, looking exactly like the water. The end of the skirt was made to look like it was dripping off me, dancing around my sand-colored heels. I couldn't help myself but regret letting Fenux do whatever he liked. He had reasoned that almost every single victor had done something cosmetic to themselves after the won - and a few recent victors, before. It was like sending a message that I anticipated to win.

We were led over to our chariot, which was painted blue. The District 4 seal was printed straight on the front, and on the shoulders of the horses. They were both white with brown patches, and I was amazed to see their markings were exactly the same. I looked away, slowly realizing that they probably were born white back in District 10. I got up onto the chariot first, and Mekyl cleared his throat behind me. He had an expectant face, and he held his hand out. I clenched my jaw, grabbing it and pulling him up roughly. "I'll take it," He whispered, though it was meant specifically for me. I looked past him, at the chariots in front of us. District 3 had a gold chariot, with champagne-colored horses. District 2 had a dark grey chariot, with dark blue-grey, speckled horses. District 1 had a white chariot, with white horses.

**POV District 5 Kaiadra Skeless**

I shifted on the bright orange chariot, my arms clamped to my sides. I had my eyes focused on Aldmos's hands, which were clamped tightly onto the chariot. The orangish-gold horses, with blond-colored manes, were restless. I had no idea how they could stand this. I then looked at Aldmos's outfit again. His light brown hair was brushed, looking as soft as the horses' coats. He had a black and silver suit, with glowing spots like fireflies. My dress was similar, and it was toned down compared to the others. It stayed rather close to my shape, and stopped just above my ankles. It was dark grey, and the bottom looked like the Capitol that I had seen through the train windows only hours ago. Glowing power lines were displayed around my waste, and the top of my dress turned to a bright yellow. My face was highlighted with black, gold and orange. My blond-red hair was pulled back in a pony tail, though some curled stands had been pulled out, dangling down my cheeks. This was the first year I could remember where District 3, technology, and my home District 5, electricity, weren't dangling with light bulbs and power cords.

Aldmos's green eyes glanced towards me, and I quickly looked away, my eyes fixed straight forward. My hand drifted along my arm. I had bruises on my arm, left behind by Vetimy. Luckily my dress had sleeves, that draped down my arm, cutting apart at my elbows and continuing on to fall to the floor. The prep team had tried to mask it with make-up, but they couldn't - though it wasn't necessary anyway. My stylist, Atang, and Aldmos's stylist, Polny, were waving to us as the chariots in front began to move forward.

**POV District 6 I'iem Perech**

Suddenly the sleek white chariot, painted with black designs like the train cars, lurched forward. Arda - otherwise known as Kay's - hands flew to the edge, clamping down to keep her from falling. Since District 6 was transportation, we were dressed exactly like our chariot. I was wearing a tight white shirt, with a black jacket painted with white stripes. My brown hair had been died black at the tips, looking like a shark fin - just like the District 4 boy - more than ever. I had tight, tall black and white shoes, and I had to hold onto the chariot to keep from falling back before it had even began moving. My face was painted white, with a black stripe going straight down the middle of my forehead and nose.

Arda was wearing a very short, strapless white dress. Black stripes ran down her sides and wrapped around her waste, and her dark red hair was curled, and flipped over to her left shoulder. She was wobbling on black and white heels, and dark black make-up ringed around her dark blue eyes. I looked over my shoulder, watching as Veric and Celiji, our stylists, Orird Shatten and Delet Ghack, our mentors, and Dylin Perab started to move away from us. I then turned back to the horse-sized zebras, and beyond that, the wide opening slowly revealing the Capitol to us.

**POV District 7 Cidet Shyn**

I closed my eyes for a moment, the bright lights and colors blinding me. As I got used to it, my eyes swept around the crowded rows and rows of ridiculously dressed Capitol citizens - though Aleas and I weren't much better. Our chariot and horses were dark brown, and our clothes matched. I had a dark brown suit, pained like a tree. Though they stayed dark brown, I had prickles standing out on the edge like pine needles. The shirt beneath my jacket looked what the inside of a tree trunk appears as. Since my black hair was cut so short, Verenda - my stylist - worked with a lot of make-up instead.

Aleas's stylist, Fexolal, had desided to make her look like an aspen tree. Of all the District 7 tree outfits, I couldn't remember ever seeing an aspen one. Her dress was sheer white with small, vertical black dashes, though she had white fabric wrapped around her chest and a short white skirt underneath. Her face was brushed over pale, and she had lots of dark make-up around her dark green eyes. Her blond, curly hair had been brushed and tamed, then pulled back in a ponytail. I had never seen her with a ponytail. I had agreed with Belm Picker when he said that she looked pretty with her hair pulled back, but it killed me a little bit inside to agree.

**POV District 8 Sulsay Honshye**

I glanced up at the large video boards, each one show casing the faces of the tributes that were passing by. The screams of the thrilled citizens of the Capitol filled my ears, and I had to clutch the railing of the magenta chariot, pulled by black horses, to keep from covering my ears. I would've guessed the same for Miryp, but knowing her, she probably was more terrified that if she let go, she'd fall.

Miryp and her stylist, Chaban, had gotten along very well, unlike me and my stylist Telapo. They had been going on and on about the fabric of her dress. Since District 8 was textiles, our tributes were always wearing vibrant colored clothes with not much of a theme. Miryp was wearing a strapless dress, that started as magenta and ended as purple, coming together in vibrant gradients and roots at her waist. Her blond hair was slicked back on the sides, and she had pale blue make-up on her face to match her eyes. The smile on her face was genuine - it had been on even as we were coming down the elevator.

I had a matching jacket and pants, though it was magenta and red, and my undershirt was white. My dusty brown hair was curled above my forehead, and my eyes and lips were outlined with black. I didn't like the idea of all the possible sponsors getting their first looks at us when we looked like their own peers and children, but Miryp's attitude was rubbing off on me. "I know it's stupid," Her voice came, leaning over to talk into my ear as she smiled and began to wave at the Capitol people. "But I actually think this part is fun."

**POV District 9 Adshywor Tash**

Our chariot was the most interesting. It was a pale golden brown, and it had wheat painted on the front, in the background of the District 9's seal. It made sense, since we were grains, but none of the others had any decorations pained on their chariots. The horses, matching the color of the chariots, pulled to a stop in the center of the city circle, and I craned my neck to look up at the podium towering over us. President Lotus stepped out, and I realized he also wasn't as dressed up as the other Capitol citizens - or all the tributes in the ring.

Our stylists, Truda and Botes, hadn't been very unique this year. We had been dressed in farmer's clothes, but they had been changed to be more appealing. Neassale was only thirteen, but they had dressed her up like she was sixteen. She was wearing big black boots, with thick heels to make her taller. She had a pale blue, plaid shirt, that was cut off at her ribs. She wore overalls that were strapped tight to her body, and her curly blond hair had been straightened. I wasn't much different, though I had no shirt on at all under the straps of my overalls. My scruffy brown hair had been straightened too, and then slicked back. It wasn't extremely warm in the evening either, and I kept having shivers run down my spine whenever a breeze would start blowing.

"Welcome everyone," President Lotus's voice boomed.

**POV District 10 Foemshay Odane**

"Tributes, we welcome you," My gaze drifted from President Lotus, back down to Aramdash and I sitting in our red chariot, pulled by dark brown horses. He had his hand clamped down on mine, and my free hand was holding onto the sides. Just like always, we were dressed like cows. But our stylists, Kaltai and Weum, had down a better job of it this year.

_"So, Jemafy, what was your first impression of the Capitol?"_ My brown hair was parted to one side, revealing almost black roots. My left eye was outlined with dark black and brushed with black blush, the other with white, and faint sparkles and white blush was painted over the rest of my face. I had black gloves and boots, and a white dress with black patches. It was made with a thin fabric, and it draped an inch beyond my feet, part of it dripping off the back of the carriage.

_"Well, it depends which 'first impression' you're talking about. My first look of the Capitol, or when I actually saw all the citizens while I was dressed as a cow." _Aramdash had a black and white suit on, and he also had black gloves and shoes. His right eye, and just beneath his chin where brushed over black while the rest of his face was white. His black hair actually fit the theme, fluffed and brushed back from his forehead.

_"Well, you and Skeltia weren't bad looking cows, am I right?"_ A small scream escaped my throat, and Aramdash turned his blue eyes on me. I didn't look at him, hiding behind my sheer of brown hair.

**POV District 11 Delmosskelmer Nonyt**

"We honor you're courage, and you're sacrifice," President Lotus's words were so old, you could tell they weren't his. The biggest sacrifice I had made was putting on these clothes. Samundirban was squeezing tight onto my hand, and I realized what she had done, what she had sacrificed. This year, instead of dressing us up like farmers - like the District 9 boy and girl were - our stylists, Urnest and Undia, had decided to dress us like the crops we grow instead.

Samundirban's golden hair was straightened, then curled again in bigger curls, wrapping around her arms and shoulders. Her face had been painted very pale, and her eyes and lips were painted orange. The top was like a basket of apples, and there were gaps in the lace that showed the skin on her stomach. At about her waste, gold started to mix into the red, and it turned to wheat fields at the bottom of her skirt, golden lace wrapping around her legs where the dress cut off.

I looked very different from her. The ruffled hair that always hung in my face had been slicked back, though even after everything they had used on my hair, it was beginning to prick back. My entire suit was made of balls of cotton on lace, and the under shirt was a painting of blue sky, green trees, with a tree sitting in the middle, its curling branches covered with cotton for every leaf. Our chariot was a mixture of all three. My side was white with cotton, the middle was red with apples, and Samundirban's side was gold with wheat and corn. The horses were a dark brown, with black hooves and white muzzles.

**POV District 12 Adoss Drysay**

"And we wish you a happy Hunger Games," I clenched my teeth, glaring up at President Lotus. "And may the odds be ever in your favor." Zalnys winced beside me, and my gaze softened as soon as I turned to him. His muscles were strained, and I realized my hand was going numb from how hard I was holding onto his. The chariots began to move, each District's chariot soon joining in the mass. District 12's black chariot and black horses joined in last, and we took one trip around before District 1's white chariot and horses began to lead the rest back, each one slowly filing into the correct order.

I had been slowly cutting off his circulation ever since the elevators. I hated what we were dressed in. My dark brown hair had been heavily worked over. It had evened with a longer-haired version of the District 4 and 6 boys, though I still had hair on the side of my head - it was just shorter. My dress was strapless, and it barely covered my chest. It was made out of the uniforms the miners always wore, though it was turned into a dress and stripped down. The shredded bits on my chest were burned black, and it was torn to shreds around my waist and stomach. Once it passed my hips, it was shredded again and turned black. The rest of it was tinted black, with what smelled like real coal dust, and my arms, neck, and upper chest were dusted over and painted with black lines, like I was slowly being consumed by coal.

Zalnys looked very smiliar, though his pants were completely black, and he only had shreds of the dusted-black uniform over his shoulders, leaving him mostly bare. The black lines began a spinning design around his chest, centering itself on the cover of his abs, which then appeared to set itself on fire. His black hair had been slicked back, and then he said his stylist when back and curled up the ends of every lock of hair upward, giving an almost singed look to him. Both of us had dark makeup on our eyes, and I had it on my lips too.

I was struggling to not give glares to every Capitol citizen. I had been shaking in my own fear the entire time, until they dressed me up like this. Our stylists, Jobuso and Jitusa, were the classic cliché stylists that also had showed their work in District 9 - bare skin. Once we finally got under the cover of where we had started, the chariots took another turn so they would end in the same order they had started in - 1 to 12. I ripped my hand away from Zalnys so I could cover my chest, and he put his arm over my shoulder to help me - and to shelter me from the cold winds that were starting to pick up and blow in through the gaping hole we had just entered through.

We finally came to a stop in front of Ranoy, Jobuso, Jitusa, Katniss, and Peeta again. Zalnys and I stepped off the chariot together, and I tried to hide behind him from the other tributes as they stepped off. While Jobuso and Jitusa started squaking, Katniss gave me a sympathetic look. "We need to get moving," Ranoy said, observing the rest of the tributes being hustled away.

Peeta offered me his jacket as we turned and followed after Ranoy, leaving Jobuso and Jitusa behind. "Thank you," I replied quietly, letting Ranoy continue on with whatever his lecture was of the rest of the night. I smiled a bit, pulling it tight over my shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything for you," He joked, smiling at Zalnys, who was still close at my side. He made a face in return, and he just smiled back before returning to Katniss, who was the only one left with Ranoy and was clearly unhappy about it. Zalnys then glanced back to me as I gave him a playful smirk. His eyes softened, and I almost immediately guessed he was just glad I wasn't shivering out of fear. I pulled close to him, and he put his arm over my shoulder again. I could see the goosebumps running up his arms, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yes, because the shark should be laughing at _me_ right now," He ran his fingers through my hair and rolled his eyes, though I saw him crack a smile. out of the corner of my eye.


	19. Chapter 18 - In One Night

**POV District 12 Adoss Drysay**

I had spent almost an hour sitting in front of the mirror, trying to brush all the hairspray out. But whatever the prep teams had used and done to my hair, I couldn't really fix it. I'd probably be stuck with this haircut until my hair grew out again. And I'd be dead by that time. My lips curled like a snarling dog, and I dropped the hairbrush. Leaning on my elbows, I stared at myself in the mirror, rhythmically tapping my fingers back and forth along my cheek. "Hey Adoss?" I didn't turn around, I just looked at Zalnys in the mirror. "You going to come eat?"

I looked at him for a moment. "Why?"

He gave me a look, slowly making his way over to me. He was tentative, like I would turn and bite him if he went too fast. "What happened to you? You were actually in a good mood a while ago." I sighed, spinning around in my chair to face him. I just gave him a sorry look instead of responding, and he gave me his sympathetic eyes. He kneeled down beside me, so we were eye level. "I'm not supposed to be the brave one," He whispered, playing with my hair.

"I know," I choked, and his smile reflected back on me.

"Come on, Katniss really wanted both of us to go," He informed me, getting to his feet. I hesitated for a moment, just standing there. He gave me a look as he turned around and started making his way to the door. I still didn't move right away, my feet glued to the chair. I didn't really want to face them. I didn't want to face anyone. If they could just start the Games right then, right in the building, I would sit in my room until someone found me and killed me in the same chair.

I took a deep, shaking breath, and I noticed Zalnys slow his pace. I pushed myself out of my chair, and ran up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He laughed, grabbing the sides of the doorway to keep me from plowing the both of us over. I closed my eyes, and I almost felt like I was back with him in the Seam. He still smelled like coal, though that could easily be due to the dust from the Opening Ceremony. He put his arms over mine, his fingers tracing over my knuckles.

After about a minute, he laced his fingers through mine, gently pulling my arms away. He draped his arm over my shoulders, still holding onto my hand. He led me out into the wide room, and I kept my eyes focused on the table. We were twelve stories up, and I didn't want to look down. Ranoy, Katniss, and Peeta were already at the table. Katniss locked her eyes on me as we joined them, and I remembered what Zalnys had said. What did she have in store?

"Hello," She greeted, though she didn't look up at us. Silence almost instantly crashed down on us, and I bit my tongue. Ranoy cleared his throat, and Katniss gave him a tiny glare of a look. "Well, as you for sure know, the Games are dangerous for everyone. And I don't mean just the tributes, us too," She began, looking rather lost.

"We're going to do everything we can to get one of you out," Peeta cut in quickly. "But the thing is, we can only get one of you."

Zalnys and I shared a look, and then I followed his gaze to Ranoy. He had been sitting silently, eating his food, and when he noticed Zalnys, he gave a look to everyone. "What?"

"Ranoy is on our side," Katniss explained.

That got me even more confused. "As opposed to being on the careers' side?" I asked stupidly, and Katniss gave me a look.

"No, as opposed to being on the Capitol's side," She responded. "He gets the Games like we do."

"Save neither of us then," I butt in, which cut off Peeta. Everyone at the table was staring at me, and I focused on Zalnys, who was gaping at me. "I mean, I'm not going home. I don't want to."

"But Adoss," Zalnys began, looking lost. I could feel the fear expressing on my face, and it slowly turned into a glare.

"Zalnys, I'm can't just go home alone," I barked, and Katniss, Peeta, and Ranoy were instantly on the sidelines. "I'm not going to just go home and move on." I jumped to my feet, and Zalnys looked almost terrified. I could feel the others' gazes burning into me, but I ignored them. "Maybe I shouldn't have spoken for you, I understand that." I turned to them, leaning onto the table. "I'm done with this - I don't need to be apart of it. I'm done, and I'm dead." I made a snarky face, nodding my goodbye and storming away. "Adoss!" I couldn't even recognize who it was that was screaming for me, as the door to my room slammed shut.

**POV District 6 Arda Emc**

The stars were sparkling above my head. I almost felt like I was home, but I knew I wasn't. The hard, muddy ground wasn't as soft as the bed sheets were. The air didn't smell like fake flowers and strange foods. But the stars still looked the same. I ran my thumb over the buttons on the remote, my hair spread out in a wave around my head. It was still curled, but not as tightly as it had been when I was standing in the chariot. I knew it would flatten out by the time I woke up. I had to hope for that more than I knew, because I didn't want to look too prepped up for the first day of training.

Suddenly the stars flickered, forcing me to open my eyes again. Then they shut off, and I sat up as the sound of the door opening reached me. I looked over my shoulder, and I'iem was standing in the doorway. "You broke the sky," I commented, watching him.

He smiled, looking down at his feet. I turned myself towards him as he came closer. I stayed silent as he took his time, eventually plopping down onto my bed. "Thing is Arda," At first it didn't prick my attention. He paused and looked up at my face, and when I ran the sentence through my mind again, I realized it.

"Kay," I stuttered, looking at him wide in fear. Did he tell anyone? If he did, would I get in trouble? What would happen to me?

"-is your sister," He finished, watching me. I nodded slowly. My mouth was open, but no words came out. "Your twins, Kay and Bourr, they came to visit me after the Reaping," He explained gently. "They told me the story." My eyes drifted down to my hands, away from him. "It's very brave, what you did," He offered, bending down to try and catch my attention.

"If I was brave I would've said my name," I responded, finally looking up to meet his eyes. He gave me a sympathetic look, but he didn't correct me. "What am I going to do?" I asked, my voice cracking and shaking as tears started to rush to my eyes.

"It's ok," He said, grabbing my shaking hands. But my arms started shaking afterwards. "We can tell Orird and Delet, and they can figure out what to do." I sniffed, blinking away the tears. "I promised them, and I promised you. I'll take care of you, and nothing bad will happen."

**POV District 3 Moria Kegariss**

I was shaking as I rode down the elevator - not from the cold, from fear. I knew the doors would be locked on the bottom floor, I wasn't trying to escape the building - just my floor. Eagee had spent all dinner strategizing with Irrhin Vorchaler and Pilyn Electer, our mentors. I spent the entire dinner talking about some of the systems they had in the building Coale. "You think Coale will sponsor you?" He had asked afterwards, and evil smile on his face.

I shut my eyes tight, trying to get the image of his devilish smirk out of my head. The elevator came to a smooth stop, and I looked up at the door. My hair was still gently curled, but it was wrapped around my shoulders instead of a ponytail. I still had my makeup on, but everything else had been taken off. I had put on a long grey shirt and black shorts, and a sheer grey robe around my shoulders that looked nicer than my curtains back home. It didn't even really have sleeves, so it was like a cape. But Coale wouldn't let me out of my room without it.

The doors slid open, and my bare feet froze on the cold white marble. I felt more lost than ever, looking out at the dark, empty room. I leaned back onto the wall beside the elevators, crossing my arms over my chest and looking around. Then something started clicking. I looked around, and up at the tall ceiling that stretched above me. It went all the way up to the twelve floor, and all the floors the tributes lived on were on the opposite side of the elevators. A tiny blue light flashed every so often, far up on the top of the ceiling.

I kept my eyes focused on it as I slowly pushed myself off the wall and walked over. The light seemed to move. I let my eyes trail down, and I noticed another blue light in the corner, wrapping around left of the elevators. I looked towards the rounded corner near the front doors, and there was a blue light there. In spun around, and there were blue lights in every corner.

I slowed to a stop, wobbly on my feet and dizzy. As I regained my balance, something caught my eye. A shadow in the wall. I crept towards it, my feet still a bit unsteady. I reached out towards the uneven wall, and my fingers wrapped around the edge. I was able to stick my fingers under it, and I slowly pulled it open. It was even darker inside, but slowly light blue and green lights, and monitors with glowing pictures revealed themselves. Once I had opened it just wide enough to fit my shoulders in, I stuck my head in. My eyes traced around the room, and when I reached the left corner, there was a man standing there.

I gasped, leaping back and fumbling to slam the door. I fell backwards, and I started trying to scramble away. My finger nails clicked on the floor, my hands shaking. For once I actually felt like I wanted to go into the Games - at least survive to that point. Those monitors were hooked up to cameras - that's what the blue lights were, they were on the cameras. I had found it, and I had found someone _in there_. He had looked straight at me, he had seen me.

I wanted to move, but my legs were frozen in place. Silence gripped the room, and when I had finally started to calm down, he slipped out of the room. My hands flew to my mouth, fighting to keep from screaming. He didn't say anything. He closed the door in the wall behind him with his foot, and then stood over me. He crossed his arms, looking...disappointed. My expression softened, and my hands fell a bit. He wasn't all that intimidating.

He wore a suit, though it was sleeveless. He had short cut, brown hair, matching brown eyes, and tan skin. He had faint tiger stripes tattooed into his skin, but otherwise was normal looking. But I could see his muscles without his sleeves, which is what scared me. "I thought you were braver than this," His voice was deeper and more fluid than any other Capitol voice I had heard.

"I thought you'd be more violent than this," I replied, my voice soft and my body still shaking.

He cracked a smile at me. "You don't even know who I am, do you?" I narrowed my eyes, looking him over. I shook my head - I would remember a tiger. "Mylute Picker," He said, stepping forward and offering me a hand.

I gave him a suspicious look, tentatively taking it. "Moria Kegariss." He pulled me up to my feet, and I almost fell back over again, but he didn't waver at all while I regained my balance.

"I know who you are," He responded, as if telling him my name was stupid. "The girl with the gears on her face." I glared at him, but he just smiled back. "The District 3 girl," He corrected. I looked at him in silence for a moment, confusion. "Somethin on your mind?" He asked, lifting his chin.

"Your name sounds familiar," I responded as I studied his face.

"Well, there's too ways you could know," He told me. "Maybe you know Belm Picker, District 7 escort? He's my older brother - by a year." I didn't respond. I knew the name, but I felt like there was more to the story. "Oh yes," He said, taking note of my expression. "Or you could be thinking of me as the head gamemaker for this year, and this year only."

My eyes widened. "You're the head gamemaker?" He nodded. "Belm Picker's your brother?" He nodded again. "You look and act nothing a like."

Mylute smiled, glancing at the floor while he kept silent. "Yes well," he huffed, looking back to me. "I'm the more...rejected, of the pair of us."

"You look rather young to be a gamemaker," I commented, looking him over. He shrugged. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," He replied, and instantly looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Seventeen? And wouldn't that mean Belm Picker is eighteen?" I gaped.

Mylute lunged torward at me, grabbing my cheeks with one hand and pulling my face close to his. "You better keep your trap shut," He hissed at me. "You wanna know the truth? My uncle lied for us. He got us our spots, and I play my cards right, I'll be doing _better_ than a gamemaker by next year." His breath was hot on my face, and I was shaking violently. "I control the Games, remember that," He added, snarling like a dog. I nodded, and he let go of me, and I instantly collapsed to the floor - by choice.

He looked down at me, glaring, when something started beeping on him. He pulled a small pager out of his pocket, and looked from it to me. He huffed, slipping the pager back in his pocket. "It turns out I need a ride up the elevators - you're coming with me, and you'll stop at the third floor." I nodded, and as soon as I got to my feet, her grabbed my arm and pulled me along beside him.

The elevator doors opened as soon as we reached it, and I wondered if his pager had been able to call the elevator. He pulled me in beside him, and let go only for a second to quickly pressed two buttons - third floor, and an unmarked button. I was still shaking, and he glanced over at me. His grip loosened, and the slight pain wore away. I counted the floors as we went up. When we passed the second floor, he let go of my arm.

"I'm sorry if I made you say something you shouldn't have," I whispered, my stomach beginning to turn and my face getting hot. I looked at him, catching him studying me. When I caught his eye, he waved me off silently and looked away. "I won't tell anyone." Mylute looked at me again, his expression softer. I grinded my teeth, and suddenly turned and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I promise."

I could feel all his muscles tense in him. "This a custom in District 3?" He said uncomfortably, and I pulled away. I could feel my face turning even redder. "It's fine," He covered quickly, sounding embarrassed himself. "It's just different in the Capitol." I didn't respond, biting down on the tip of my tongue. He shrugged, "It's fine." The elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid open. The lights were off, and everyone had gone to bed - just like I had left it. "I'll see you in training tomorrow."

I nodded a goodbye silently, stepping out onto District 3's floor. I looked over my shoulder, and he gave a bit of a wave to me as the doors closed. I let out a heaving sigh, that I had kept locked up in my lungs. As my breathing started to even out, I looked at the little pager in my hand - that I had taken from Mylute's pocket when I hugged him. I pulled it close to my face, trying to find the right button. I had seen a model similar to this before. I quickly got to the previous message. "Roof top. District 5 tribute. Immediate attention."

I looked upwards, as if I could see what was happening through the ceiling. I slowly walked over to the other elevator, side by side with the one Mylute was traveling in, and pressed the button. It came down silently, and I quietly tapped my fingers on the pager when I stepped in. I bent down next to the buttons, and the one at the far right bottom was also unmarked. But there was a small etching in the black casing right above it, and when I ran my fingers over it, I found an r-o-o-f. I hesitated for only a heartbeat before pressing the button, and fell back as it began to shoot up.

**POV District 12 Zalnys En'beli**

I peered through the doorway. The lights were still on, though they were dimmed. I took a deep breath before taking a quick glance around the corner. Ranoy had gone to bed, but Katniss and Peeta were still awake at the table. I could just barely hear their voices drifting towards me. "I think its good they got in a fight," Katniss's voice came.

"And why's that?" Peeta inquired, sounding rather frustrated.

"Life isn't always going to be soft on people, especially in the Games," She responded gruffly. "The sooner they know that, the better." There was a pause, and then Katniss continued. "What? They also can't both come back. They need to learn that too, because we stole that opportunity."

"Didn't they both say that they wanted to die instead of go home? And they weren't even saying the other should go home," Peeta pointed out. "They wanted to go out together, and somehow, Adoss didn't know that was Zalnys' intentions."

"Unless their messing with us," Katniss cut in.

"I don't think they are," Peeta responded evenly. "And it's a very noble cause. If either of them change their mind - just say the word - and we'll do everything we can to save them. If not, let them play out their game."

"That's not how it's supposed to work Peeta," Katniss replied, sounding like a growl. "We're supposed to try. Even if we've never succeeded."

I had never realized it. Haymitch Abernathy, the victor who mentored both Peeta and Katniss, only every brought two victors - from the same game - within twenty-five years. They two of them had brought none. I had to be impressed that neither of them acted like him, who had been famous in District 12 as a drunk, but I felt bad for them. They had to endure the deaths of all the District 12 kids on their hands. "I know," Peeta sighed. "I want to do what's best for them."

"Then just let Adoss's out burst break them apart."

"One of them is going to die, if not both," Peeta pointed out. "I want them to be as happy as anyone can be in their situation. I like her, she reminds me of Willow."

"Then all the more reason to protect them from eachother!"

I stepped back, letting the door close. I didn't want to hear them anymore. I turned around, the room only lit by the bright lights from the rest of the Capitol. Adoss had fallen asleep not long after she had left, and I had slipped in to find makeup streamed down her face. I wanted to wake her up, but I didn't. I fell back into one of the chairs beside her bed, tapping my fingers on the arm of the chair. I stared out at the Capitol until I fell asleep.

**POV District 3 Moria Kegariss**

The door slid open silently to the elevator, and I was instantly hit by the wind. "Aldmos Sulorad! - is that your name?" I recognized Mylute's voice, screaming over the wind. I cautiously stepped out behind him, and luckily his back was turned to me. I followed his gaze, and standing on the edge of the building, I recognized as the boy from District 5 - just like the pager had said.

"Not like anyone else knows it!" Aldmos screamed back. "Back home, I'm known as the crazy kid!"

"Prove them wrong!" Mylute called back. "They don't know you - you can show them!"

"How!" Aldmos sneered back, jerking over his shoulder threateningly to look at Mylute. "By dying alone on the streets of District 13? I'd rather die here!"

"There's a force field!" Mylute screamed back quickly as Aldmos turned around. Every muscle in his body was tense, simply waiting for the wind to blow him and Aldmos off the roof itself. "It'll bounce you right back!"

"Not if you aim it right!" Aldmos responded, sounding proud of himself. "I aim it right, it'll bounce me right over the corner to the other force field! I'll get enough electric shocks by the time I hit the ceiling, you'll be too late."

"You can get allies if you show your intelligence in the training!" Mylute offered. "I'm the head gamemaker, I have connections!"

"You can't make them!" Aldmos shot back. Mylute was about to say something, but Aldmos continued. "I know you can't! You can give me a number, but that's a strength evaluation - not a mental! They all know my mental evaluation is zero! Nobody will ally with me!"

"You-" Mylute began, but Aldmos cut him off.

"Shut up! If you really wanted me to stop, you'd come get me!" Aldmos watched Mylute, but he didn't move forward. Aldmos turned, and took a step forward.

"I'll ally with you!" I screamed over the wind, my throat quickly getting strained. Both of them whipped around to look at me.

"The rest of your team will agree to that?" Aldmos shot back, his voice cracking a bit.

"I don't have a 'rest of the team'!" I replied, and Mylute looked even more shocked. I sniffed, tears running to my eyes. I wasn't lying. "Eagee hates me! Everyone can see I'm not strong, I'm just smart."

Aldmos pulled himself away from the edge of the roof. I glanced at Mylute, but he was just staring at me. He made a small motion towards Aldmos, and mouthed, "Promise".

I paused for a moment, then I remembered. I took one last look at Mylute before running over to Aldmos, throwing my arms around him. "I promise you, Aldmos! I'll be your ally! I'll protect you - if you protect yourself until we get there!"

"You're name's Moria, right?" He asked, talking in my ear so he didn't have to scream. I nodded.

"Aldmos," Mylute called after a few moments. "You ready to go back to your floor?" Aldmos hesitated, looking up at him, before nodding. I pulled away from him, but grabbed his hand as the pair of us walked over to Mylute. When we reached him, Mylute put his hand on Aldmos's back. It would seem like comfort to him, but I had to think he was also trying to prevent him from making another escape. We stepped inside the small room with the elevators, and Mylute ushered him in and pressed the floor five button for him.

"Are you coming?" Aldmos asked, looking at the pair of us.

I shook my head. "We'll be right down," Mylute answered.

"I'll see you tomorrow at training," I told him, and Aldmos nodded, a smile growing on his face. The doors slid closed, and I took in a deep breath.

"You are a lot smarter than I thought," Mylute complimented, turning back to me. "How did you know about this?" His eyes fell to my hands. I tossed it in the air, and he looked it over as he caught it. "My pager," He breathed, looking back up at me. He kept his eyes locked on me as he put his hand into his pocket, only to come up empty handed. He studied for a moment, and I kept quiet, biting back a smile that was slowly breaking it's way through the surface. A look of realization came to his face, "You sneaky devil."

"Glad I did, didn't you?" I pointed out. My heart was beating fast in my chest, and he reached out to touch my cheek. My face got hot with embarrassment, realizing my tears had spilled over.

"Did you really not have any allies?" He asked, studying my face. I nodded silently, my throat tightening as I bit down on my tongue. "I had absolutely know idea how. I would take you as an ally within seconds."

"Well, its not like you couldn't get reaped," I mumbled, and I instantly covered my mouth with my hands. "Sorry," I choked out through my fingers.

He smiled at me. "It's ok, as long as you only tell me," Mylute replied. "You're a lot braver too." I sniffed, my eyes getting flooded again. He made a sympathetic face, and suddenly pulled me to him in a hug. "What's wrong now?" He asked, slowly rocking me back and forth.

"Aldmos and I are in the same boat," I whimpered, my eyes burning. "Everyone seems to hate me - but I don't even have a reputation or anything, not one that I'm aware of. Eagee just hates me, for no reason. And it's not like I'll get any other allies, especially with Aldmos as a required ally for anyone else."

"I'm sure that there will be a few that will want to be your ally, atleast before Aldmos chases them away," Mylute said, trying to make a joke. He must've quickly realized it was wasted on me, and he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe the cute little twelve-year-olds," I sniffed, trying to make a joke myself.

"They've both got their brothers hovering over them," Mylute replied, pulling away from me to look me in the eyes. "There's got to be some other rejects around here though."

"What, are you being serious?" I asked, sniffing as I started to calm down. My heart was still thumping in my throat, but I had stopped crying.

He nodded. "I'm head gamemaker. I control the Games. You don't tell anyone about my brother and me, and you keep Aldmos from doing anything drastic, and I'll try to scrounge up another ally or two for you."

I smiled at him. "Thank you."

He nodded, smiling back. "How about this, come down tomorrow night by that door. I'll be the only one there." I nodded to him, and the elevator door opened again - empty. He ushered me into the elevator, his arm across my shoulders, pressing the third floor and ground floor buttons.

"And anyways," He mumbled as the elevator started to move down. "I'm the one that should be thanking you. I couldn't lost everything today - you saved me."


	20. Chapter 19 - Training: Day 1

**POV District 12 Adoss Drysay**

I shifted, keeping my eyes closed. All my muscles were sore, and as I pushed myself up and finally opened my eyes, red marks from the bed sheets ran along my arms. The longer part of my hair had flipped over in front of my eyes, and I curled over onto my back so I could slick it back. When I did, my eyes fell on Zalnys, dead asleep in a chair, with his feet resting on the corner of my bed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, leaving trails of makeup on my fingers.

I crawled across the bed and slipped off, my feet thudding on the floor. I froze, but he didn't flinch. I walked up to him, hesitating for a moment when I looked down at him. I gently brushed his hair out of his face, and it fell into the way it had been last night for the Opening Ceremony. I smiled, and I slipped into the space beside him in the chair. I propped my legs over his, and I laid my head on his chest. I stayed there, feeling and hearing him breathing, looking out at the Capitol. The sun began to rise above the colorful lights, and I had to admit it was a pretty scenery - that they kept all for themselves.

Zalnys shifted beside me, and I looked up at him. He groggily lifted his head, searching the room until his eyes fell on me, and he looked rather surprised. "I'm sorry," I whispered immediately.

He smiled. "You got it wrong, Adoss." I raised my eyebrow at him, bringing a smile myself. "Wanna know the truth?" I narrowed my eyes. I hadn't known he was hiding anything from me. But I nodded, and he laced his fingers through mine, focusing on our hands. "Yesterday morning, Katniss came in to talk to me." He paused, and then turned his gaze to my eyes. "She said that the 'star-crossed lovers _bit_' was a bad idea and we should stop. I told her that it wasn't a ploy, and that we'd both rather die than one of us go home. I didn't bring it up, because I didn't want to imply that you should agree with me. I wanted you to make your own decisions."

"You want me to go home...?" I questioned, swallowing hard.

"Only if you want to," He said, kissing my forehead. "I personally want you to live, but it would be a bit selfish if you felt the same way for me, wouldn't it?" I nodded. It was a hard thing to think about. We were both committing ourselves to death. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he died, and I could tell he wouldn't be able to if he lived and I died. But to constantly remind myself that we'd both be fighting so we can stay alive just to fall short.

"We have training today."

**POV District 6 Arda Emc**

"Come on," I'iem said, his hand on my shoulder, trying to move me forward. He had been forced to come get me for breakfast, and I was still resisting. I shook my head, but he didn't let up.

"There you are, Kay!" Dylin exclaimed, and I instantly cringed. I'iem looked at me, and I stared back like I was dealing my a knife wound in my stomach.

"That's what we need to talk about," I'iem said, glancing around. "Where's Orird?"

"I'm here!" She chirped, walking out of her room and into the living room with the rest of us. "What is it?"

"There's a bit of a story to tell," I'iem explained, glancing down at me as I started grinding my teeth. He took a look at me, and instantly his expression turned to sympathy. "Her siblings came to me at the Reapings. Her twin brother and twin sister, Bourr and Kay." Orird and Delet shared a look, and Dylin just stared at us in confusion. "Apparently, Kay's name was drawn, and her sister Arda decided to take her place, but she was in so much shock she didn't actually say she was a volunteer."

"So, you're name...is Arda?" Orird clarified, glancing at the other two after several heartbeats of silence.

I nodded. Orird stepped forward, and bent down to hug me. I'iem backed up, and when Orird pulled away, she placed her hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye. "You're very brave."

"Thank you," I choked, though my expression stayed the same.

"Don't bring this up with the other tributes at training today," Orird continued. "Delet, Dylin, and I will figure this out while you're gone." I nodded, blinking away tears. I was thinking of my family. All day today, I'd be hearing my sister's name, and I'd be forced to claim it as my own. "So that means you have to keep calling her Kay, I'iem," She added, glancing at him intensely. He nodded.

Orird let me go, leading me towards the table for breakfast before we headed down, I'iem trailing behind. Delet sat down himself, and Dylin opened his mouth as we passed. I caught Orird giving him a look, and Dylin thought better of any comment he had. Orird and I'iem sat on either side of me, while Dylin and Delet sat across from us. Suddenly we had become divided.

**POV District 9 Adshywor Tash**

"You guys can go on from here," Romara informed us before pointing Neassale and I down the hallway. She hadn't been paying that much attention all day, but it's not like either of us really minded. I could just assume we were late, and leave it at that.

I glanced at Neassale. Her eyes were wandering around the hallway, but she made a specific effort to avoid my face. It was slowly eating away at me to say something, but where would I start? Thank her for practically condemning herself to death to save Saest? I figured that would make her think that I planned on using her as a simple stepping stone to get back to her. Tell her I would protect her, to repay for her bravery? I couldn't even promise myself that it would be true if I did say that.

I had never felt as much curiosity, burning inside the pit of my stomach. Did she know who I was? Did she know Saest? What was her motive for protecting Saest? Was she even protecting Saest, or in her mind, a stranger? I needed to know. Every possibility and question lead to another, causing me a million loose strings curling themselves into a knot up instead my head. "What?" I suddenly realized Neassale had turned to look at me, her face growing wary the longer I studied her, while her voice was stern.

"How did you do that?" I asked simply, and instantly felt embarrassed, heat rushing to my cheeks.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Do what?"

"You volunteered," I informed her, and she just gave me a look - saying she already knew that. "Why...how did...you do that?" I stammered.

She suddenly narrowed her eyes at me. "What's it to you?" She shouted. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind to say. I just wanted to ask more questions - ones she clearly wouldn't be answering now. She glared at me when I said nothing, and stomped ahead of me. And we had just reached the training compound. All the careers were gathered near the door, and they were staring me as I followed after a furious Neassale. I just stared back at them. They had heard Neassale yelling, but they must not have heard everything else we said. My face more flushed than ever, I made a quick escape to find something to do - away from them - but I could still feel their eyes soaking in every bit of me.

**POV District 3 Moria Kegariss**

I leaned against a wall, rather neglected, glancing around the training room. Eagee and I had been really early, and we were the first ones there. Even some of the gamemakers were arriving, and none of the other tributes were there. Eagee was wandering around the room, walking in circles, keeping far from me. "What did I do to you?" I whispered, my eyes trained on him as I fiddled with my nails.

The careers came in all at once, the quiet room suddenly filling with merciless laughs and loud feet. I watched silently, and Eagee instantly stopped wandering, freezing to glare at them. More tributes slowly trickled in. At one point, there was a yell, and the District 9 came storming in. The boy followed her, and quickly went to hide himself. I hadn't seen Aldmos come yet - he and the girl from his District were late. I suddenly started praying that he would actually come, that he hadn't changed his mind and decided to throw himself off the building anyway.

A commotion came from the gamemaker's little perch, and eventually Mylute emerged from the swarm of other gamemakers. He was smiling, saying something that I couldn't hear. When he finally waved them away, he put his hands in his green-outlined pockets as his eyes slowly studied the room, it's contents, and it's tributes. "Hey, Moria," Aldmos's voice suddenly came.

I jumped a bit, looking at him before I trained my gaze on Mylute again. "Hey."

"Where do you want to go first?"

Mylute eyes fell on me, and I could see his greedy smile soften when they did. He gave a small wave to me with one of his hands, hiding it beside his leg so nobody else would notice. My mouth gaped a little bit, and then quickly filled my mouth with an answer. "How about the fish hook station or something?"

Aldmos glanced over at it, but I was still watching Mylute. "You think there will be water there?" I swallowed hard, and I could feel my face light up. I tried to shrug nonchalantly. The last thing I wanted to do was for Mylute to see how terrible I would be at anything...though there was the small prick in the back of my head wondering if I could make some sort of weapon work to my advantage. Aldmos shrugged too, and then made his way towards the fishing station. I followed after him, still watching Mylute. I gave a bit of a wave to him, trying to shelter it from the rest of the tributes. His smile broadened, a bit, and then he turned away and fell back into a chair and started watching the careers behind me.

I glanced over my shoulders, but Eagee caught my attention first. He was still standing in the emptiness, while the rest of the tributes were heading to find a place to start. He was staring up at the gamemakers. I followed his gaze, and my eyes found Mylute again. When I turned back to Eagee, he was glaring straight back at me.

**POV District 9 Adshywor Tash**

We had finally headed off to lunch, and by then, I was starving. I hadn't eaten much at breakfast that morning, and I was glad to see some more normal food waiting for us after training. I had met a group of tributes at a fire-making station and had traveled around the training center with. The District 10 girl and boy, Foemshay and Aramdash, and the District 8 girl and boy, Miryp and Sulsay. Aramdash waved me over to them, and I was thankful to find refuge at their table. There were twelve tables, but there were a lot of empty tables. I had been very close to finding myself alone at one of those.

The careers, who I had learned to identify as Ludacris, Silver, Luipos, Arale, Mekyl, and Poldra, were all at one table. The District 3 boy, Eagee, was the one keeping Neassale company at one table. The two of them sat at a table right behind the careers, coversing quietly and staring daggers into their backs. I was surprised to see they didn't have the District 3 with them, I had anticipated most of the tributes from the same District to stay close to eachother. But the girl, Moria, was sitting with the District 5 boy, Aldmos. The District 5 girl, Kaiadra, was separated too, sitting with the District 6 girl and boy, Kay and I'iem. The rest of the tributes were together, each pair at their own tables - Aleas and Cidet from District 7, Samundirban and Delmosskelmer from District 11, and Adoss and Zalnys from District 12.

"So, Adshywor," Sulsay began, pulling my attention back. "What exactly _did_ you do to that girl, Neassale?"

I paused for a moment, the end of my fork dropping onto my plate with any food I had on it. All their eyes were trained on me, but I looked past them at her, wearing a rather speculating look. "I have no idea." I said eventually, and Aramdash and Sulsay laughed. Foemshay and Miryp just smiled, but they had both been rather on-edge since I had met them. "I wanted to ask her why she volunteered - that girl that she volunteered is a friend of mine-"

"A _friend_?" Aramdash gasped, and I gave him a look.

"That's very nice," I sneered, and he just smiled. "Anyways, I wanted to like ask her why, or thank or, or just _something_, and when I asked, she screamed at me."

"Well then," Miryp said quietly, and everyone laughed, and she had an amazed smile on her face like she couldn't believe the attention.

"This is pretty forward," Foemshay jumped in, "But this is a pretty good group already."

"You thinkin' allies?" Aramdash asked, leaning on his elbow and beginning to play with a lock of hair from her pale brown ponytail.

"Sounds good to me," I replied quickly. "I think you guys are my only hope." Sulsay gave a glance over his shoulder at Neassale, and nodded in agreement.

"Me too," Miryp replied, glancing at Sulsay, who gave a slight nod of approval. I had never made friends that fast, but considering how I fast I had made enemies, I wasn't too off-guard. But we only have about five days until we would be killing each other. The faster you could make friends, the better. Because your bonds would be stronger when your life depends on it.

**POV District 8 Miryp Arhone**

"I'm going to go try my luck at the plant thing," I told the group, as they headed for the knife station - the first physical one we had yet visited.

Adshywor, who was ahead and had stopped to wait for the others, nodded to me. Aramdash glanced over his shoulder at me, saying a quick goodbye. Foemshay gave a wave before following after him. Sulsay paused, his eyes finding the large screen before looking back to me. "Ok," He replied, then stiffly turned away to follow behind the others. I was glad that he was taking such close care of me, but I had grown used to solitude. And I didn't want to show how weak I was. I trusted my group, but I only trusted Sulsay to not abandon me if they discovered how useless I would be. I knew how to sew. Not kill. And it wasn't a skill I was keen on learning.

I turned away from them, heading over to glass room with the podium. I stepped in and up in front of the podium, and almost instantly felt lost. "Why can't they just have a start button?" I wondered aloud to myself. "It seemed pretty easy to get me in the Reapings."

"Well that's a random comment," I whipped around, to find one of the careers standing behind me - the boy from District 1. He stepped up beside me, looking down at the podium, while I just stared at him. He pushed one of the buttons, outlined on the stand, and it began to start. He smiled, and then turned to me to find my amazed - and terrified - look. "What?" I didn't respond, shriveling away from him. "My name's Ludacris," He continued, holding out a hand to me.

"Miryp," I finally sputtered, taking his hand tentatively. He had a strong grip, and I wondered if he had forgotten I wasn't a career for a moment.

Ludacris smiled at me, turning back. The room had turned into a green house, with plants filling rows and rows and rows. "Find the edible plants," A monotone voice said, and the words appearing in front of our eyes. I had never seen any technology like it before. I knew the weapons were like this, but they weren't as realistic.

"Since I'm stuck in here," Ludacris started, glancing over his shoulder at the closed door behind us. "I'll help you." He stepped down from the podium, and I began to follow him into the rows.

**POV District 4 Poldra Umenvor**

"What do you think he's doing?" I asked, watching Ludacris with the District 8 girl, Mekyl at my side. I had tried to wrap my hair around my sunset-tattooed skin, but my again, it was my _dyed _hair. I had expected a lot of torture from the rest of the careers, but they hadn't said anything bad - Silver had, in fact, complimented me on it.

Mekyl shrugged. "Dunno." I glance towards him. His arms had been tattooed, like the water. That's why his sleeves had gotten so thin - it had turned to skin. "What?" He asked, and I looked up from his arms to find his dyed eyes.

"What did Zujevi say to you to get you to do that?" I asked, frowning at him.

He shrugged. "Dunno." I narrowed my eyes, and his smile came back. "He said that all the victors looked like that, so it would send a message to the others if I did it before hand." I glared harder. Exactly what Fenux had said to me. He gave me a look up and down. "He didn't say you were too."

"She hounded me," I defended quickly. "She was making it very clear that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I said yes just to get her to shut up."

Mekyl smiled more. "Makes sense." I huffed, turning away from him. Luipos and Arale were at the bows, while Silver was at the hand-to-hand combat. The pair of us had been dejected to fires after lunch, and now we were mulling around the fish hooks. My eyes went back to Luipos and Arale, and I crossed my arms as I watched them, glaring until my face was sore. "What now?" Mekyl asked, turning away from the fish hooks to look at me.

"What do you think of them?" I inquired, not turning to look at him, not softening my expression.

Mekyl leaned towards me, following my gaze. "Who? District 2?" I nodded, not responding. "Well, I dunno," He said, abandoning his hook. He took a quick look at me, before continuing, "He's making it pretty clear that he's putting his sister before himself."

"Not a good trait," I muttered. "You think they'll abandoned."

Mekyl shrugged. "If they do," He said with a huff. "They're dead."

**POV District 7 Aleas Chemore**

Training had ended, and I walked along with Arale and Samundirban. The two twelve-year-old girls had come up to me together as the tributes were recollecting to leave, saying something about us being twins. We all had curly blond hair, I had to admit. Both of them wore their hair out, but I had my hair in a ponytail again. We trailed behind the rest of the tributes, me in the middle, holding both of their hands. They both were skipping, and though I wasn't, I wore a smile on my face. It was hard to remember that while Samundirban and I were both from the lower Districts of Panem, Arale was a career, straight out of District 2.

Once the career pack, which was right in front of us, spread apart out of the hallway, I saw Belm and Cidet waiting beside one of the elevators. I let go of the two girls' hands to go meet them, but they held on. Arale pulled the three of us towards the careers, who were dispersing. When we got there, District 1 was gone and the District 4 tributes were stepping into the elevator. The District 2 boy - Luipos, Arale's brother - was waiting for us, and I tried to pull away from the two girls that ran up to meet him.

Delmosskelmer, Samundirban's brother, swooped in, and I was finally let go. I stepped back, trying to put as much distance between me and them. I thought both of them had taken a disliking to me, but I realized I had completely been ignored. Luipos and Delmosskelmer pulled their sisters away, and Luipos gave him a dirty look. I could only see the back of Delmosskelmer's head, but when he turned to his escort to head to their floor, I guessed he had returned the gesture by the look he still wore.

I stood still for a moment. How had that happened? I had spotted the two girls meet up at the camouflage section, while I had been standing neglected beside Cidet. They had quickly turned into best friends, it seems, and then spotted me. The ran up to me, and Cidet and the other tributes left me to follow behind everyone else. They had pulled me over to Luipos, Delmosskelmer had come to his sister, and their brothers became enemies as fast as they had become friends. I knew they were young, that they weren't really being impacted by their eminent death - they were too young to realize that their lives could actually _end_ end in these games - that and the fact that one of them was a career. My mind still felt clouded.

I started chewing on my nails again, and soon a pair of hands came down on my shoulders. I turned around, to find Belm standing behind me. "Hey," I greeted him, a bit of a smile coming to my face. I looked around, realizing everyone else was gone. "Where's Cidet?"

"I sent him up," Belm explained, letting go of my shoulders.

I studied his face, and I realized how harsh it was. I began to shake softly, out of fear. "What?" I asked, my eyes searching his face. What had I done? What was he going to do?

"Maybe you are suicidal," He said, looking me over. I opened my mouth to say something, but his hand clasped around the back of my neck. I instinctively pressed my head back, straining my neck, my muscles tensing. I looked at him, my eyes wide. "Don't get mixed in with those girls, those people," He hissed, his face close to mine.

"What did I do?" I asked, and I had no idea why my voice was so strong.

"Did you not see it?" Belm asked. "That look, between the District 2 and 11 boys. They both have a thirst for blood, to protect their family." His breath was hot on my face, and my face started getting hot, my stomach starting to twist. "You get mixed in on that...that potent cocktail, you'll find yourself dead."

"What is this?" I prodded tensely, my voice shaking.

Belm didn't say anything at first, his eyes searching every inch of my face. His index finger laced itself through my hair, pinching the back of my head. I felt a shiver slide up my spine, running through my veins. "If I'm going to keep you from being suicidal," I frowned at him. "I'm going to make sure it doesn't go to waste." He let go, and I finally let my body slouch. He kept his eyes steady on me, making his way back to the elevators. I glanced down at my feet, my face getting even hotter, my palms starting to sweat. Is that really what I was? A waste, without assistance?

"Hey," I glanced up, surprised, and he was waiting for me at the elevators, holding the doors open with his hand. "You coming?" I kept my head low, shuffling past him. He let go of the door once I was in, and leaned across me to press the seven button. He started leaning back and forth on his feet, and I glanced up to see him pressing his lips together tightly. I realized that his hair was a bit of a mess, and his tight teal and ginger shirt was a bit disheveled.

A thought hit me - what if the escorts _do_ actually realize that the children they meet are really killed? People can have an impact, especially people that know they will soon die. All these kids, always impacting, never to be seen again. "Ok," Belm's tight voice broke into my thoughts. "Maybe I shouldn't say you're a waste." I easily assumed he was still being protective that I was possibly suicidal - at least to him. But I couldn't help but smile a bit as my eyes drifted from him to the door as it opened on the seventh floor.


	21. Chapter 20 - Blue Light

**POV District 3 Moria Kegariss**

I tapped my toes on the cold ground of the elevator. I hadn't bothered to put on shoes - again - as I went down to meet Mylute. I could still feel Eagee's cold stare on the back of my neck, and I continuously kept looking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't actually there. "I'm going to loose my mind before I even get in the Games," I muttered, only for myself to hear, which only enforced the idea. My eyes then skimmed the top of the elevator, but there weren't any blue lights. I ran my arms over my shoulders, goosebumps over my arms. I really was alone in there.

Once the elevator doors opened on the ground floor, I slipped out and made an immediate turn for the door. I walked forward, and I realized the crack of the door was gone. "Was I dreaming?" I whispered, fear creeping through. Had I just dreamed everything, and now I really was standing alone for no reason? I narrowed my eyes, frowning at the wall. That wouldn't make sense. Aldmos had still been my ally, he acted like it all day, and Mylute _had_ waved at me. What if he was playing me, to get me in trouble?

I looked over my shoulder, my eyes following the line of cameras that wrapped around the room until I looked up at the tiny light on the ceiling. A clicking noise brought my attention back, and I saw the crack in the wall. But I hesitated. I had my arms crossed over me, shivering in the cold, staring at the bump in the wall. I heaved a sigh, trying to convince myself. It was only a few days before the Games, they couldn't kill me, and they couldn't hurt me. It would show.

I started forward, and finally moved my arms so I could slide my fingers through the door and pry it open. As I did, I remembered I wouldn't be seen for the next three days, and the Capitol had a lot of means of covering their tracks. But I was too late. I found Mylute - alone in the room, to my relief - spinning around in a chair. He stopped himself with his foot as soon as he saw me, and I saw some sort of remote in his left hand. He gave me a deathly look, and I shriveled away, afraid he had been playing me.

Suddenly he added a smile, and jumped out of his chair. "Hey," He greeted, pulling me into the room.

"Hi." He took a quick sweep of the room before pulling the door shut behind him. I realized something - he was scoping the room. He didn't trust me either, or at least not enough that he didn't have to check. It he didn't trust me, he couldn't be planning anything against me, or else it wouldn't matter.

"Sit down," He told me, leaning over to press a few buttons on the side of one screen. I did, sitting stone stiff. Mylute sat back on the arm of the chair, and he began flipping through camera footage on the largest monitor on the center of the screen. "I'll be honest with you," He spoke up eventually. "There's no single-players."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I crawled out of my spider cage, leaning forward and gripping the arm chairs.

"Lots of people have already formed alliances. You only have District partners you could possibly squeeze in with," He took a deep breath in, sighing. "And honestly, I think you only have one option - District 12, Zalnys and Adoss." He paused on video of the pair working together with the spears. "They're the only two that seem to be rather open to the idea. The only other strictly District pair is Cidet and Aleas from District 7. But Cidet is very brash."

"What do they know about Aldmos?" I continued, frozen in place, my eyes fixed on the screen.

Mylute shrugged his shoulders beside me. "Not much yet."

I heaved a sigh. I fell back into the chair, crossing my arms over my chest. "Screw it." Mylute slipped down beside me in the chair, giving me a concerned look. I stared at the screen for a few moments before I finally met his gaze. "It'll be just me and Aldmos."

"You can always try some of the careers," He stuttered, moving towards the screen. "Ludacris is clearly a swing in their group. And Luipos will ditch them with Arale if he feels that they won't take his sister."

I stared at him, studying his face. When he turned back to me, he frowned. I shrugged my shoulders, shaking my head gently. "It's not worth it. I need to focus on actually learning some skills and maybe if we get a good training score, some people will come to us." Mylute opened his mouth, but he said nothing. I gave him a look, speaking for him, "Sometimes it's the better position."

He sighed. He didn't speak for a long while. "Ok...ok, maybe you're right." I picked my feet off the ground, pulling my knees to my chest as he started to spin the chair back and forth with his toes. "I'm not just saying this, but I do think you have some potential - if you decide to actually touch a weapon."

My face got hot, realizing how much attention he had paid me. And the fact that I hadn't impressed. "What about Aldmos?"

Mylute turned to me, biting his lip. "Em," And I huffed a sigh. "Well, the two of you have connections with a higher power," He informed me, making a face and mimicking a Capitol voice. His voice was too normal, and it cracked and sounded like he had swallowed a cactus when he tried to pretend to be a cliché. I started laughing, and I covered my mouth with my hands. He narrowed his eyes, trying to hold back a mischevious smile, before he started pushing the chair around in a circle.

My laugh grew quiet, running out of air in my lungs. Mylute was cheering, using his momentum to get us moving faster. When I finally got myself to calm down, my enjoyment turning into a big of fear as I curled up tighter. I slipped my hand in front of him, gripping the two arms of the chair as if it was the only thing holding the two of us from flying into the monitors. "You won't rig the training, will you?" I called out.

Mylute slowed us down, dragging his foot across the floor. "You don't want me to?" He asked, looking at me.

I nodded. "I think I'm in enough _potential_ danger. A glossy training score would be icing on the cake," I told him shakily, my voice tight. Fear slipped across my scalp. I was telling how bad the Capitol was to one of them.

"I know," Mylute breathed. I glanced towards the screen, which had played through to the end of training and was showing an empty room. His eyes narrowed at me in the corner of my sight, and his hand slipped under my chin. My muscles froze, and he guided my head back towards him. "Is that why you look so scared?"

I shook my head, keeping my eyes locked on him. I studied his striped face, judging my possible responses. "No," I stuttered. "It's because I'm telling how bad my perception of the Capitol is to own of it's own puppeteers." I was careful how I worded it - at first - but once I finished, I could feel all the color drain from my face.

He nodded, taking in what I said like it meant nothing. He stayed silent, watching me. I wondered if he was waiting for me to crack, but I instantly tried to erase it from my mind. I trusted Mylute - possibly. How well could I trust a gamemaker? He was _the head gamemaker_, as if to make it worse. I started trying to push myself away from him, but while my arms strained, I didn't move. I wouldn't let myself. But he was trusting me, to not turn him in, wasn't he? He'd get in just as much trouble as I would. Right?

Mylute then leaned his forehead against mine. My organs were twisting and screaming inside me. I suddenly had the feeling every single breathing person could see me right now. I wanted to break away, just to check for cameras. I started thinking through a layout of the room in my head, and I tried to remember if there was a blue light anywhere. But I didn't know the room, I didn't know if there was one there. And I couldn't bring myself to move away for one second, to check. "Maybe not puppeteer." I could feel his breath on my face, and he was keeping his eyes locked on my face, and I stared back at him. "Maybe puppet."


	22. Chapter 21 - Training: Day 2

**POV District 9 Adshywor Tash**

I bit down on my lip, shifting my fingers as my palms started sweating. When I glanced over my shoulder, to check that Romara had gone back in the elevator, I caught Neassale glancing at me with the corner of her eye, hiding behind her curtain of curly gold hair. As my head drifted back, it stopped on her. She turned away from me, though I could tell she was uncomfortable from my gaze. I looked ahead at the opening into the training area. "You know Saest," I spoke up, my voice sounding like I hadn't used it in years. "The girl you volunteered for?"

"Yea," Neassale responded quickly, sounding tense yet uninterested.

"She's a good friend of mine," I continued, keeping my eyes ahead. We both began to slow down, side by side. "I guess more than friends, though its not like we even realized it until I was sitting in tears on the floor of the waiting room." Her gaze slowly turned to me as I talked, but I didn't meet her until I had finished. "That's why I wanted to know 'how' you volunteered." We came to a complete halt. She was shorter than I was, but with a stern, intense look and a threatening stance as she crossed her arms across her chest and leaned onto her right foot, I felt like I was being interrogated.

"I volunteered to escape my uncle," She responded eventually with a long sigh. "That's how." I stared back at her, blankly, and she rolled her eyes. "My older brother, Fagav, and I's parents died. We moved in with my uncle. He had always been harsh on me, but once I lived under the same house as him, it escalated to physical punishment. Fagav never knew, and I didn't accept him trying to include me in with his friends."

My eyes widened and my throat tightened, but she went on. "He always said that one of us should volunteer, so we could win the Games for him and 'make ourselves useful'. So that's my plan. I volunteered, I'll make it seem like it's all for them. Try and get as far as I can." She broke my gaze to look down at her sleeve, pulling it back to reveal and big, gold watch on her wrist. "This is my District token."

Neassale looked back up to me, holding out her wrist for me to look at it. "This clock doesn't count up, it counts down." I looked from the watch back up to her. "When it runs out, I'll kill _myself._" She hissed out the last word. Her voice was so steady, so sure of herself, so determined. "That's what I'm doing for them."

"What if you win the Games before the clock runs out?" I pointed out, since it was the only thing that came to mind.

"Same fate."

**POV District 10 Foemshay Odane**

"Where do you guys want to go first today?" Sulsay asked, glancing around at us. We all stood in a ring, though we looked a lot more disheveled than we did the day before. Adshywor wasn't paying any attention, glancing over his shoulder towards Neassale, Eagee, and some of the careers were practicing climbing. Miryp wasn't paying attention either, watching another pair of careers. Aramdash and Sulsay seemed to be the only ones who were acting normally, seeing as I was jittery and shooting glances at every single person in the room.

_"So Jemafy, how did training go?"_ Aramdash gently tapped between my shoulder and neck, and I turned around so fast I almost fell down. "Hmm?" I asked. I noticed Miryp walking off towards the camouflage station, and the three boys were left staring at me.

"I asked," Aramdash repeated slowly, eyeing Sulsay and Adshywor. "What do you want to do?"

"I-I don't care," I stammered, looking at them with a terrified look. _"It's a lot harder than raising cows." _I glanced around, looking at everything until my eyes settled on the knife throwing station. _"But I got pretty handy with the knives - which will probably come in handy."_

"Ok," Adshywor responded, his voice sounding monotone. "We could-"

"Try the knives," I butt in, and everyone looked at me again.

"Good idea," Aramdash responded quickly. He put his hand on my back, gently turning me around and moving towards it. I kept my arms over my chest, stumbling beside him awkwardly. I didn't move my head, but in the corner of my eye, I saw him give a look back at them.

I pressed my lips together, hearing the words in my head before I said them. _"Stop it, Aramdash."_ What exactly I would be telling him to stop at, I didn't even know. _"I thought you would protect me, from myself, I thought that's how this worked." _Maybe from protecting me. _"That's what I am trying to do!"_ Thunder rang in my ears, and I blinked the sounds away. I needed someone to protect me.

**POV District 11 Delmosskelmer Nonyt**

"We could try the axes," Samundirban suggested. I glanced over my shoulder, following her gaze. But the first thing I saw was Luipos and Arale, the District 2 tributes, had already gotten into a rhythm of swinging.

"Oh really?" I asked, a bit too harshly. She turns her big blue eyes on me, and I try to hold a glare against her. I could tell without meeting her that Arale wouldn't be dangerous. But Luipos was bad news - he was full career. He wasn't different than the others. I let out a strangled sigh, taking another glance at them. They weren't training with the other careers. It was always just the pair of them. Maybe I could get to him through our sisters. "Fine."

"Great!" Samundirban took off across the room, and I trotted after her. "Hey Arale!" She greeted. When the defected career-girl turned around, she quickly abandoned what she was doing and ran over to her. I lurched forward, the axe still dangling in Arale's hand. Luipos stooped down, grabbing the head of it and pulling the handle out of her hand. I slowed my pace, my muscles tensing as I gritted my teeth. I didn't want to try and appeal to any career.

"Hi Samundirban," Arale replied, a broad smile on her face.

Luipos gave a bit of a look at the pair, but neither of them noticed. He only turned to me when I stepped right in front of him. "Hey De-" He started out stiffly, but he cut himself off when I held out my hand to him.

"I'll protect your sister and I'll have your back," I whispered just loud enough for the both of us to hear, looking him firmly in the eye. "If you are willing to do the same."

"Why would I-"

"Hey Luipos," Arale cut her brother off. He didn't move his head, but his eyes darted down to her. "What if we ally with Samundirban and her brother? You're always saying that the rest of the careers are untrustworthy." He turned back to me, with a bit of a terrified look. I didn't break my gaze, and I had my hand stretched out to him.

This was the beginning of many risks to come. And every single one, I had to make sure, were in Samundirban's best interests. That's what Luipos wanted, anyone could see it. His sister was in his mind, at all times. It was probably worse for both of us that we form this alliance, seeing as we both were ferociously protective of our sisters. But I had to weigh the pros and cons of just me and Samundirban, or the four of us. And he had to weigh the pros and cons of just him and Arale, the four of us, or him and the merciless careers.

"Sure," Luipos replied stiffly, taking my hand and tugging on it in a sort of handshake. He then hissed through closed teeth, quiet enough so only I could hear, "You better keep your promise."

**POV District 7 Cidet Shyn**

I plop down beside Aleas, who had already found her seat for lunch. We hadn't trained together _at all_. She was sitting as tall as she could, leaning forward just enough to balance on her elbow while she ate her food, looking elsewhere. I was hunched over, giving her a death stare though the corner of my eyes. "We have some new developments at Table de Career," She said softly, rather suddenly. I looked up, following her gaze over.

The District 1 and 4 tributes were the first ones I saw, and I wasn't very surprised. The typical careers. But the District 2 tributes were absent. I scoped the room, to find them sitting at a table with the District 11 tributes. "Wait," Aleas continued, pointing me back towards the original career table. "Look again." There were still six people at the table.

"Who is it?" I asked, sitting up straighter. There was a young, tall girl sitting there. She had curled, raspberry-blonde hair and even when she frowned at the careers, the corners of her mouth were tilted upward. Then there tall, strawberry blond hair that was cut short and curled upward at the front. He had a pair of glasses sitting on the brink of his nose. He glanced over his shoulder, and intense blue stare setting on me. I stared right back, undaunted. He quickly turned away from me.

"The girl from District 9 and the boy from District 3." I glanced back over at the table of District 11 and 2. Both boys from the Districts were shooting glares at the careers, though the girls didn't seem to mind.

"It's a shame both of those little girls got reaped," I mumbled, turning back to my food.

"It's a shame anyone got reaped," Aleas replied curtly. "And anyways, I'm pretty sure Samundirban volunteered to save her brother's girlfirend."

"Who?"

She turned to me, looking straight down her nose at me. I hadn't realized how much she had changed, within about four days. She had always wore her hair down, hiding behind her hair. She always looked young and innocent. Aleas looked older, with her hair pulled back and the makeup she let Fexolal put on her every morning. She had a deep, intense stare across her green eyes. I wondered if she would've volunteered for me.

"The girl from District 11, Samundirban Nonyt," Aleas continued when I stayed silent. "I would've figured you, of all people, would learn your tributes."

**POV District 8 Sulsay Honshye**

We had taken over the bows and arrows room, pushing out the District 6 tributes and the District 5 girl. Aramdash, Foemshay, and Adshywor were all practicing together. I was leaning against the glass by the door, my back to them. I was too busy focusing on Miryp. She was over at the knife station - where we had started that morning - with Ludacris, the District 1 boy. She had broke into the careers - or at least into one. There was nothing keeping her here, with us.

She may be just trying to get him on our side. But I doubted it. Ludacris would be smarter than that. He had an alliance of trained, professional killers. Or, he could swap to us. I couldn't even find anything to say about my own alliance. We were just us. I grinded my teeth, sliding my jaw back and forth across my upper teeth. I could easily understand why anyone would find something in her, but I didn't see why Ludacris had to see anything.

From a strategical stand point, it wasn't really smart, what he was doing. Miryp wasn't exceptionally strong, she wasn't District 3 smart, she wasn't deceiving or a liar, and she was completely convinced that some sort of thing was out to get her and her entire family. She's convinced she's as good as dead, because that's what her sisters were. She was constantly afraid of some sort of thing. I had never seen a career that had the mentality to even understand it.

The announcement that training was over sounded, and the rest of my allies trickled out of the bow and arrow room. Foemshay was the one to get me to move, putting her hand on my shoulder and nudging me off the wall. Miryp was waiting for us at the door, and she let the rest of them pass in front of her to find me trailing at the back. She didn't say anything to me, and I didn't say anything either.

Miryp was looking at her feet, quietly trotting along beside me. I slowed down even more, and she kept my pace, letting all the other tributes arrive at their escorts that were waiting for them. "Where does he stand?" I murmured, looking down myself. I watched her feet instead of mine, walking unsteadily and barely moving at all.

She glanced at me, and I looked up at her. It seemed like we were in our own room, all to ourselves. I suddenly pictured her in my mind, standing behind Ludacris while he demonstrated with the knives. But she was turned towards me, and her gaze locked with mine across the room. She knew what I was talking about. "No where." I stopped complete, straightening. She turned towards me, and I was giving her a confused look. "He offered to leave his alliance, if I leave mine."

My look was frozen on my face for a few moments, and slowly I started to narrow my eyes at her. "And why would you do that?" Miryp shriveled a bit, looking at me with a pained face. "It could be a tactic, ya know." Her eyes widened, almost out of terror. "See, if he could get one of us to bail, it could undermine everyone. Then he can ditch you, return to the careers. Then we're down in numbers, because the others wouldn't want you back if you abandoned us, though I would stand up for you. As a bonus none of us trust each other and we'd be divided."

Miryp was glaring at me now. "So you're saying you are the only one who actually likes me as a person?" My jaw fell open. I hadn't meant that - or at least it hadn't been intentional - but it's what I said. Ludacris was using her and no body would stand up for her. I tried to find something to say, but nothing came to mind. I just stood a gape, while she slowly hated me more and more. "Right. Maybe this is why I would."

"Miryp, Sulsay!" We both looked up when Mortanny called us. Everyone else had left. I was glad, so no one would hear him call to us like little children, but Miryp probably wasn't. She'd have to wait until tomorrow to tell Ludacris she was done with us. Miryp didn't hesitate to head over, but I trailed behind her, breathing quietly. She probably didn't want to hear a sigh, as a reminder I was still there.

**POV District 7 Aleas Chemore**

"So, what's the entertainment today?" Belm asked nonchalantly as we started heading up the elevator.

"A whole lot," I replied, rocking back and forth on the heels of my feet. My body was turned towards him, with Cidet blocked off by my shoulder. I could feel his glares in the back of my head, but I ignored him. As I began my rundown, I noticed Belm wasn't looking at me, but my cousin that was seething beside me. "Somehow, Luipos and Arale ended up trading their career alliance for one with Samundirban and Delmosskelmer."

Belm turned his look to me, but I just narrowed my eyes. "It wasn't me." He looked unconvinced, but if I was the one who had got them together, I would've been dragged in by the two girls. "And Neassale and Eagee seem to have taken their place."

"The District 3 boy and the District 9 girl, right?" Cidet jumped in. I just gave him a glare over my shoulder. He only learned that from me. He narrowed his eyes down at me, but I turned back to Belm. He had a concerned look, and I got confused. He gently turned me so I was facing the door instead of him. I didn't understand, but I didn't turn to look at him or say anything to find out. None of us said anything. We just stood stiffly in silence until the door opened on the seventh floor.

Cidet brushed past me immediately, knocking me off balance. I shot a look at Belm, but he looked like he had already anticipated it. He led me out, putting his hands on my shoulders. Kykuta and Ony were sitting on the couch in the living room, and were looking at us startled. I looked around, but Cidet was already gone. "Where'd he go?" I asked, turning back to our mentors. Kykuta pointed towards his room.

I pursed my lips, and I took a step towards it. But Belm didn't let go of my shoulders. I looked at him, and he mouthed the words, "I'll take care of her," to Kykuta and Ony. I glared at him, but he just gave me and awkward smile as he pushed me across the open floor and into my room. I whipped around to face him, and he was standing outside the doors.

"You stay here," He told me, looking down his nose at me with a firm look. "I'll come get you for dinner. Until then, just stay here, and don't screw anything up." My mouth fell open indignantly, and he gave me a sympathetic smile as he let the doors close. I saw him turn around just before they closed all the way. And I had the sudden wish that he would just stay with me.

**-X-X-X-**

"Aleas?" I was stretched out across the bed, my head dangling upside down on the side opposite the door. I was looking out the window, out at the Capitol, upside down. It was interesting to see buildings stretch down like stalactites in a cave or branches on a tree. "Aleas?" I ignored him, again. I heard Belm's footsteps creep into my room, and his reflection appeared in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" He exclaimed, lurching towards the bed. I lifted my head just in time to see him crash knees-first into the edge of the bed.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really still think I'm trying to kill myself? By hanging my head upside down?" I asked, unimpressed. He looked at me, his breath coming fast. "You're just a bit paranoid." He gave me a glare, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I swung myself around, letting my head drop onto the sheets at the foot of the bed while balancing my bare feet on Belm's shoulder.

"Very nice," He sneered, moving my feet so they rested in his lap while he brushed off his shoulder. His jacket had blue-green squares turning silver as the design progessed down.

"You really are from the Capitol, aren't you?" I commented, folding my hands beneath my head.

"How could I be from anywhere else?" Belm replied, a bit mockingly, and stretching his arms out to motion towards the Capitol displayed on the windows. His arms then fell to his sides, and we stayed silent for a few moments. "Come on, let's go to dinner, I'm hungry," He suggested after a few seconds, messing around with my toes.

"I don't want to," I moaned, pulling my feet back from him and getting to my feet.

"Too bad," He responded quickly, getting to his feet. He offered me his hand, and I just stared at him for a moment. He gave me a stern look down his nose at me again, and I took it reluctantly. "Just try to pay attention to Cidet, not me," Belm advised, pulling me to my feet. "You're starting to loose sympathy with him from all the attention you give me."

I felt my face get red hot, but he had turned away and was leading me out towards the door. I bit down on my lip, closing my eyes and tried to find my way through memory and sound. I didn't want Belm _or_ Cidet to see how embarrassed I was - even if neither of them could figure out why. I hadn't even caught myself.

**-X-X-X-**

"We didn't do a good job, did we?" I asked, falling back onto my bed. Belm nodded, making a sympathetic face. "It's not fair that I had to appeal to _my cousin _and _our mentors_. Shouldn't I just be able to appeal to other tributes, and not the ones who are supposed to train me and my own family?" I complained.

He plopped down next to me on the edge of the bed. "It's a bit of my fault. The mentors hate us because I've seemed to take over your mentoring."

"Explain what I did to Cidet," I instructed, crossing my arms over my chest.

Belm pressed his lips together at this. "I don't know how this started, but again, he despises you now because of me." My face started getting red again, I could feel it, and I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut in. "I'm not going in the Games with you, and part of your family is. He should be more important than I am."

I made a pained face, biting my lip as I tried to think of something to say. He looked at me expectantly for a few moments, before his gaze fell to his lap. "It's his own fault," I mumbled. "He set out to make sure that I had no one else to talk to, that I would rely completely on him to survive this." Belm looked up at me, with a doubtful expression on his face. "He didn't anticipate an escort who would care if I died."

"That's going to make the Games a lot harder, won't it?" He commented. I gave him a look. "That's the whole point of it though. Make every single person fall in love with every single tribute, and then kill off everyone except the one that will work for the Capitol the most." My heart leaped into my throat, but I couldn't say anything. I let him keep going. "That's what Mylute and I wanted to do, maybe finally get a victor that was real."

"Mylute...Mylute Picker?" I clarified. A small smile crept across his face.

"Did you never notice?" He asked, and I shook my head. "Mylute Picker...Belm Picker," He said slowly, and the connection clicked in my head. "He's my younger brother." I nodded slowly, pressing my lips together. Cidet was like a brother to me. I was doing everything possible to not die by him, while Belm and his brother were trying to cure the Capitol's sickness...even if the whole thing was awful.

"I don't know if that would make much of a difference on the whole thing," I sighed. "But it's an honorable cause."

Belm shrugged, but I could tell by his face that he already knew that. "It's not the best plan to change our world," He sighed. "But we were a bit naïve when we started this scheme of ours. Once we got there, we realized we didn't really have a plan. But it's so dangerous, we wanted to have some sort of accomplishment if we were to get caught." I gave him a confused look.

He moved over closer to me, and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Our uncle was the old gamemaker. We were way too young to get into the business, but we were able to convince him to lie to us and get us connections."

I narrowed my eyes at him, still a bit confused. "How young were you?"

"Well, if we lived in the Districts, this would be my last year in the Reaping," Belm muttered even quieter. My eyes widened in shock and my mouth dropped open. "You'd be surprised what this makeup can do." I frowned a bit and I reached up, running my thumb under his eye. It came back darkened, and I looked back to see that I had almost wiped age off his face. I remembered his face on the morning in the train, how different he had looked from when he came to my "rescue" and when we went to breakfast.

"Why are you telling me this?" I wondered aloud, quietly.

Belm shrugged, staying silent, without an answer. "It felt wrong not to."


	23. Chapter 22 - Training: Day 3

**POV District 1 Silver Velvet**

"Remember, this is your last day of training," The gamemaker's voice continued. I sighed again, rolling my eyes at him. I started tapping my foot, looking around at everything. I had practiced pretty much everything here. And none of them were new skills, either. The rest of the tributes began to disperse, and I sighed again. I didn't really know where to go.

The first two I saw were Luipos and Arale, along with the District 11 tributes. They had more or less _quit_ us. Then there was Ludacris and the District 8 girl. He hadn't ditched us...yet. I knew he would, though. I gritted my teeth, watching the two of them as I went towards Eagee and Neassale. "Hey guys," I hissed through my teeth, not looking at them.

"What's wrong now, Silver?" Eagee retorted, continuing to knot the rope he had in his hands.

Neassale followed my gaze though, then abandoned her end and walked beside me. "Ludacris and Miryp?" She asked, looking up at me. I just nodded. "Want me to try something?" I glanced down at her, narrowing my eyes. A smug smile grew on her face, and eventually a smile grew on mine. "I'll give it my best shot," She assured me, before trotting off towards them.

**POV District 9 Neassale Enther**

They were working at hand to hand combat. Ludacris was actually up fighting the hologram, while Miryp sat back watching. Adshywor had talked about her with the mentors. He said that she had been a bit...unstable. At least when her older sisters were mentioned. They had been tributes, and they had both died. I didn't really have anything against Ludacris. But if I could set off Miryp, her alliance might get to her rescue before Ludacris could even comprehend.

"Hey," I greeted sweetly, stopping beside her. She glanced at me. "You're Miryp, right?"

She nodded. "How do you know? Cris mention me?"

"Hmm?" I asked, puzzled for a moment. "Oh, Ludacris? He's mentioned you, yeah."

"No...no hard feelings, huh?" Miryp asked. I stared at her for a moment. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Ludacris had told me that he was leaving the career alliance, so Eagee and I had a for sure shot at taking his place. I could see by the expression on her face that she wasn't worried I would be upset, but she was worried Ludacris was playing her. She didn't trust the careers, no more than I did.

"Why? Did you do something?" I questioned her innocently. She looked at me, maybe hoping she'd see me give away that it was a lie. But when I didn't, she just shook her head and looked away.

"Nothing," Miryp mumbled, watching Ludacris again. He still hadn't noticed me.

I started humming for a few moments, watching her too. "You seem familiar, like I've seen you before," I commented. She didn't respond. "Do you have sisters?" I asked, turning back to her. She tensed up so much she started wobbling on her feet.

"Yes," She replied warily. She didn't turn to look at me, but I could see her eyes watching me.

I turned back to Ludacris, humming again. It was setting her more on edge. "That's it!" I exclaimed eventually. "Your sisters were in the Hunger Games, weren't they?" Miryp just nodded, though I heard her whine a bit. I heaved a sigh. "That's some fatal irony, huh?" She didn't respond. She was frozen, staring straight ahead, pretending to be engrossed in Ludacris' performance. "Yeah...there's been _a lot _of _irony_ this year."

Again, silence came from her. Ludacris had finished, and was stepping down from the platform. He gave me a suspicious look, but seemed a bit too confused to find anything to say. "You can go ahead, Neassale," Miryp murmured.

"That's nice of you, thanks," I told her innocently. I had never really intended to try this station, but that probably was karma coming to get me. I stepped up onto the platform, pressing a few buttons on the side panel. It wouldn't be a very bad thing to learn. I was a thirteen-year-old girl from District 9, no one would anticipate it.

"What did she want?" Ludacris whispered. I could still hear them, standing behind me. Miryp didn't respond right away, and I glanced over my shoulder, just barely. When she turned to him, to respond, I began humming again. Her words cut off in her throat, and I turned away as the hologram appeared.

"I thought you said you broke your alliance," Miryp responded. I guessed it caught him off-guard, because he didn't respond right away. The hologram was a lot taller than I was. It lurched forward, and I instantly ducked, dropping down onto my knees. The platform was more like several raised platforms, octagons that were about a two feet in diameter. This would hurt. I rolled forward, tearing through the hologram's feet and sending it collapsing face-first into the platform. I was still humming.

"I did - I told Neassale," Ludacris replied, pointing towards me. I got to my feet, a broad smile on my face, but when Ludacris swung his head to look at me, I focused down on the hologram. It was quickly trying to get up on the uneven ground, but I lurched my foot forward as hard as I could, landing it in the stomach. It was knocked to the side on the lower platforms. I went forward and kicked it again in the hip. My toes were throbbing, but if this hologram was real, there's no way I didn't facture it's pelvis. It laid there on the ground, and closing my eyes, I kicked it hard again in the chest. Now the person would have broken ribs too.

"She had no idea," Miryp hissed back at him. Still humming as I destroyed the hologram, and the mention of her sisters, were setting her on the very edge. I sauntered around the hologram, which wasn't even attempting to stand up again. I opened my mouth to say something, but then a hand clamped over my mouth. I had set it on average for everything. The average tribute will have allies, apparently.

"Do you want me to talk to Silver instead? I can call her over," Ludacris offered softly. _Oh no,_ I thought. He was smarter than I thought. I couldn't hum anymore, as I struggled against this new hologram. The original disappeared, which I assumed meant that I had killed them. Definitely broken pelvis and ribs. Maybe a rib punctured something. If this had been on hard - and in real life - they would've snapped my neck. I just had to assume they were planning to.

Miryp never responded, but Ludacris made a motion to Silver, who had been watching this entire time. I stomped down on the hologram's foot, and when it's hand shifted, I bit down as hard as I could on it's hand. It pulled away, and I instantaneously kicked it in the stomach. It stumbled back, and I jumped around. I had to pay it all my attention, and if I were to turn to them at all, I was afraid Silver would catch me. And then I didn't know what she would do to me. I knew she was probably going to blame me no matter what. Especially if Ludacris gave away that he told me and I said nothing.

I hadn't been focusing, and the hologram had regain it's ground. I put my arms up in an X, taking a couple blows to my arms. I gritted my teeth, ignoring it. It tried to kick me then, but I met it halfway with my own. Unbalanced, I lurched forward, landing a punch to it's chest. For every step it took backwards, I took a step forward. I punched it in the shoulder, in the chest again, and I twisted around to kick into it's side. The hologram keeled over, but it was still alive. I raised my foot, planning to kick it in the neck, when I heard a metallic singeing behind me.

I whipped around, to find another hologram trying to run up behind me. I jumped to the side, sending the third hologram crashing into the second. But I stepped back onto the corner, and I was sent sprawling onto the ground. I had fell completely off the platforms, and the lights lifted around it. It had turned itself off, the two holograms instantly disappearing.

I looked straight up into the eyes of Ludacris and Silver. Miryp was practically cowering behind Ludacris. I gave them a smile, though it was clearly forced. Ludacris offered a hand to me, and Silver just glared at all of us while he helped me up. Even after trying to undermine him, he was kind. Silver looked like she was ready to strangle me, and she probably wouldn't be as simple as the holograms were. It did strike me that I never really finished. If it was real, I would be lying on the ground while the two of them got to their feet. And they'd be seeking a vengeance for their fallen ally that I kicked to death.

"I don't know how good your chances are now, Neassale," Ludacris whispered, holding a tight grip on my hand. Then he let go, and stepped back. The pair turned and walked away, quickly. Miryp probably hadn't been too keen to take her turn at the hand-to-hand combat anyway. I watched them go, since it seemed like a viable excuse than to looking back at Silver.

"Good job, you did," Silver snarled at me. I reluctantly turned around to face her, and she was towering over me ominously.

I didn't know how to respond, but I knew for one thing that I couldn't show that she was intimidating in the least bit. "Thanks," I replied smugly, balancing on my tiptoes so I could get in her face.

"There's no way he's in our alliance anymore," Silver went on stiffly, giving me a crazed look with her eyes. I shrugged, making and unimpressed face. I opened my mouth to add on, but she cut me off. "And neither are you."

"Hmm?" I asked, but I knew what she said. She just turned away, stomping off. I watched her go, and Eagee was at my side in seconds.

"What did you do?" Eagee hissed, looking after Silver, his glasses sliding down his nose.

"I do believe I just go rid of Ludacris from our alliance for good," I replied, watching her as well. Eagee turned back to me, as mad as ever. He opened his mouth to say something, but I continued. "That means there's definitely an open space for the both of us."

"Then why does she look so mad?" Eagee asked, glancing back at Silver again.

I made a face. "She may want to kill me."

Eagee looked back at me. His mouth was wide open, staring at me in disbelief. "Neassale-" He began, but again I cut him off.

"All we have to do," I explained. "Is appeal to Mekyl and Poldra. If the two of them like us, then we're golden. Because it'll pretty much be four against one. And she'll either have to leave, if she hates me that much, or just get over it." I looked back at Silver before adding, "It's not like Ludacris would've stayed otherwise." Eagee let out a frustrated sigh. I didn't pay him any attention though, looking for the other two careers. They were over at the spears. "Come on," I told him, heading over towards him. He reluctantly followed.

**POV District 4 Mekyl Clugar**

"Hey, Neassale," I greeted, though I was eyeing Silver. "What's her problem?" Poldra followed my gaze, and I shared a glance with her.

"Well," Eagee answered, not turning to look. "Ludacris seems to have left the career alliance."

"That would explain it," Poldra commented. "That means we've lost Ludacris, Luipos, and Arale. Three from the alliance, gone."

"You two are in prime position to replace them, aren't you?" I added, glancing at the two of them. Neassale just smiled, though Eagee didn't react. He wasn't very lively anyway.

"You were very good in that battle, Neassale," Poldra commented. "I saw you over there."

"Thanks," She replied. "It ended because I stepped off the platform."

Poldra nodded. "Well, if you want you can try it again - I can do it with you." She offered. Neassale agreed, and the two headed back the way Neassale and Eagee had come from. Eagee stepped beside me, watching them go.

"Poldra is very confusing," Eagee observed, glancing at me. I shrugged in response.

"I know." She seemed to hate me, but she was willing to work together. She didn't like to "make nice" with others, but she was quick to pair up with Neassale. She hated every single thing about the Capitol's sense of style, but she let her stylist dye her hair and skin. "I guess Neassale just reminds her of her sisters."

Eagee seemed to agree, because he didn't say anything else about it. "I'll be honest with you, Mekyl," He spoke up after several seconds of silence. "Neassale was supposed to try and mess up Ludacris and Miryp's alliance, but she failed. Silver's all mad at her, and she said that Neassale had no chance to be with the careers as long as Ludacris wasn't."

I looked at him, surprised. I would never have expected blunt honesty - especially from Eagee. He seemed like he would be too smart for that. He would know if that was a good move or not. There was something he was getting at, but for some reason I felt like I trusted him too. "Silver isn't in charge." He nodded, and I almost instantly caught on. He was trying to appeal to me - not for himself, because he hadn't done anything to aggravate. He was trying to appeal himself so he could use himself as collateral damage to keep Neassale around.

"Poldra obviously likes her," I continued, pointing towards them. "And I'm not dumb enough to get rid of someone like her," I added with a smile. "She's too genius." Eagee gave a tiny, half-smile. "So are you. And if you can get handy with this," I picked up Poldra's spear, which she had left behind, and handed it to him. "You'd be irreplaceable." Eagee stared at it, and then gave me a glance. I rolled my eyes at him. "Fine, I'll help you."

**POV District 5 Kaiadra Skeless**

I plopped down beside I'iem and Kay, who were talking softly. "What's up?" I asked ungraciously.

"Lots of drama with the careers," I'iem explained, though Kay just eyed me. "The District 1 boy," He continued, pointing behind us. I glanced over my shoulder, to see him sitting with the District 8 girl. "Left the group. And the District 1 girl got all made at the District 9 girl, and now her and the District 3 boy seemed to have left."

"But," Kay added stiffly. "The District 4 boy and girl keep talking to them and were training with them, so the District 1 girl's made at _everyone_."

"I thought she was just mad at everyone in general," I muttered. I was catching onto Kay's behavior. I had never actually trained with her or I'iem, though I was claiming to be their ally. I had no intention of splitting, especially since I had no better offers - or any other options at all. I liked my space, that was it. I'iem had said the District 9 girl and I seemed like twins, even in personality. But now she had broken into the careers, so why couldn't I have?

Plus, if the District 1 boy was gone, that would be a total of three missing spaces the careers needed to fill. They had the District 3 boy, the District 9 girl, why not the District 5 girl? We had all defected from out District partners. I bit down on my lip. I hated that she didn't trust me. But why did I have to proof it to her?

**POV District 7 Cidet Shyn**

"What do you want to do next?" Aleas asked me, looking around at the training room. The rest of the tributes were trickling out from lunch towards everything. I just shrugged, and she sighed a bit. "We could try the...I don't know," She huffed. "The swords?" I instinctively looked towards the room, but it wasn't empty. The District 12 tributes were there.

"It's taken," I replied, watching them.

"Exactly." She smiled at me, a bit too smugly, and started towards them.

I paused, not following her. I didn't like the idea. But I heaved a sigh, and forced my feet forward. I didn't understand how this was working. It was seeming more and more like I had two mentors, while she had an escort for a mentor. Two experienced victors vs. one Capitol idiot. And yet she was changing more than I was, seemed to have a better plan than I did. I was lucky that we had an unspoken, unbreakable alliance. Just a family bond. But I knew it was getting very, very close to breaking.

I didn't like her little friend. Belm had a big impact on her. She reported everything to him. I had made the connection between his name and the head gamemaker, Belm was Mylute Picker's brother. If Belm was getting all the information on all the tributes, he could just take all of it to his brother. Mylute would have a constant inside look at all the tributes. If Aleas heard something important, she would go to Belm first, before me. And there was no reason why Belm wouldn't immediately go to Mylute.

Plus the fact that she was acting a bit like him. A bit of an air of arrogance, like she was suddenly above me, had worn off onto her. That glare of hers was coming straight off his face. My sweet little cousin was gone, and now she was one that was even more annoying.

"Hello," Aleas greeted the tributes as we approached them. The two of them gave each other a look, surprised we had come to them.

"Hey," The boy responded, a bit tense.

"I'm Cidet," I spoke up, getting a look from Aleas. "And this is my cousin, Aleas."

The girl smiled at us, then turned to the boy. "I'm Zalnys," He responded, warily looking from her back to us. "And this is my girlfriend, Adoss."

"Nice to meet you," Aleas replied, smiling back. Both Aleas and Adoss were a lot more open to the others, while Zalnys had an untrusting look mirrored from my face to his. When I caught his eye, he forced a smile. But I only gave him a worthless half-smile. Zalnys looked back to Aleas.

"Have you had much practice with the swords?" Adoss asked, looking from Aleas to me, and back again. Aleas should her head. "Same." She took a glance at Zalnys, who just looked back at her with a wary and confused look. "Do you guys want to try it with us."

"Sure," Aleas jumped in, cutting me off when I opened my mouth. Aleas and Adoss both looked to me. I just shut my mouth and nodded awkwardly. Then we all glanced at Zalnys.

"Uh, yeah," Zalnys responded. He picked up a pair of extra swords, handing one to me, and one to Aleas. Adoss led us in the room, Zalnys following behind. "What should I set it to?" He asked, looking at the panel of settings beside the door.

Aleas and Adoss shared a look. "Hard?" I offered. Everyone stared at me. "What? There are _four_ of us, and it's a ton of holograms." They still looked wary, but Zalnys agreed. The lights dimmed, and Zalnys retreated over to us.

There was nothing at first. We were all waiting for them to suddenly attack, but there was nothing. Almost by instinct, or a silent order, we gathered around in a circle, our backs facing in. I started to get nervous, and I stretched the blade of the sword out in front of me. I couldn't pick out where the door was anymore. And before I could react, the orange lights formed together and came flying at me. The blocks hit the blade of my sword, splitting apart on impact, but I stumbled back a bit. A knife. A knife had come flying at my shoulder.

The three of them looked at me, and I looked over my shoulder at them. There was still nothing. And then a flicker of orange light appeared, over Adoss's shoulder. "Look out!" I called out, and she whipped around immediately. But I didn't wait to see how it turned out. I wheeled around to my own side, and just in time to see another hologram form. A spear in hand, it charged towards me.

I jumped forward to meet it, slicing the sword through it's neck. It instantly turned to a ton of blocks, exploding out across the ground. Then there was another. I jumped forward again, quickly swinging the sword into it's shoulder. I'm not even sure if that one had a weapon. I whipped around, feeling bare after abandoning the circle. Aleas and Adoss were fighting side by side, a pair of holograms against them. But I wasn't worried about them.

Zalnys was being overwhelmed, with three holograms surrounding him, ready to pick him apart. I surged forward, shoving my sword through one hologram's back without even thinking. Distracted, the two holograms turned on me. Their un-detailed faces were terrifying, and I froze for a moment. Zalnys swung at one of them, hitting the hologram straight in the head, only to have another hologram run at him.

The hologram left in front of me had a, orange, blocky sword in hand. It opened it's arms, and I could predict it would swing around into the back of my neck. I switched the sword from my left hand to my right, and I moved towards it just the same. I grabbed it's wrist, stopping it from swinging, and slamming the sword into it's sword to make sure it wouldn't fly into my skull. I slid the sword down the blade of the hologram, slamming the sword into the hologram's side. I pulled the sword away, and the hologram was still "alive". I swung it down on it's arm, and it's arm and sword exploded into blocks. I grabbed what was left of it's arm, and swung my sword into it's neck, just beneath it's chin.

It exploded into blocks in my hand, and I smiled. I glanced over at Zalnys, who had just demolished his own enemy. Then at Aleas and Adoss, who were also finished. But the lights hadn't brightened. We all looked at each other, and then Aleas turned her eyes to me. "Hey," She called out, but just as she did, orange light suddenly caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I turned around, but there wasn't hologram standing in front of me. I looked down, to see an orange block sword blade sticking through my stomach.

My heart sunk, and I looked over my shoulder. There was a hologram's hand clasped onto my shoulders, and as I turned all the way around, I got a look at it's empty face. It suddenly fell to the ground in pieces, and the lights brought back up. But I was frozen in place. My hand flew to my stomach, because I was still unsure whether this was training or not. I turned away, finding the door, and I was assured I was safe. But when I blinked, I could still see the hologram in the back of my eyelids.

If it had been real, Zalnys, Adoss, and Aleas would be alive.

I would not.


End file.
